King County prosecutors recently charged a Des Moines man for robbing a Federal Way Key Bank two weeks ago.
At approximately 2:50 p.m. on Aug. 19, Federal Way police responded to reports that a robber handed a bank teller a note demanding money, specifically without a dye pack, and that he had a gun.
The teller told police she gave the suspect money, about $823, and included a dye pack. The suspect promptly threw it back at her and yelled, “I told you not to do it, I’m not stupid,” according to court documents.
But the suspect was gone by the time police arrived.
Auburn police arrested Brian Joseph Wayland, 31, on Aug. 24 for robbing a north Auburn Fred Meyer Chase Bank. Because Wayland was wearing the same clothes as the Federal Way Key Bank robber, police presented a photo montage of Wayland and three others to the bank manager for identification.
The bank manager positively identified him.
Police interviewed Wayland at King County jail and he admitted, post-Miranda, that he robbed the Federal Way bank.
He said he drove his wife’s vehicle to the bank and parked in a nearby apartment complex parking lot and walked to the bank.
After he gave the teller the note, he said he saw a $1 bill wrapped around a bundle of money and in it was a dye pack, which he threw back.
After grabbing the money, he ran back to the vehicle and drove off.
During the interview, Wayland also confessed to 14 additional robberies in Bellevue, Capitol Hill, West Seattle and Des Moines.
“Wayland said he was dubbed the ‘Rent Money Bandit’ during a series of bank robberies on the Eastside,” the charging documents state.
The FBI and Seattle Safe Streets Task Force nicknamed a prolific bank robber the “Rent Money Bandit” last October because each time he robbed a bank, it was during the first few days of the month, when rent is typically due.