Movie Inspired 5 Females To Rob Bank, Police Say

It may be a case of life imitating art.

Police said three teenage girls and two women suspected of pulling off a sophisticated bank robbery in Olympia July 31 may have been inspired by the 1996 movie "Set It Off."

A videotape of the film about four female friends who try to beat the system by robbing a bank was found in an Aberdeen home police said was shared by at least three of five suspects in the robbery of Anchor Savings Bank in West Olympia.

It appeared the movie had been watched numerous times, police said.

Two suspects, ages 33 and 20, were arrested for investigation of first-degree robbery Friday night in the Grays Harbor County town of Westport. Police said they're from Aberdeen, which is nearby. They were booked into the Thurston County jail.

Still sought are a 14-year-old and two 15-year-olds. Police are not sure of the relationship among the five.

Officers searched an Aberdeen home about midnight Friday and recovered evidence linking all five suspects to each other and to the robbery, said Olympia Police Lt. Tor Bjornstad.

Witnesses said there were four robbers in the bank, but police believe five individuals were involved. The whereabouts of the fifth suspect during the robbery is unclear.

"We just don't know yet. This has been one of the most unusual cases," said Bjornstad. "It's unusual that they're all females, that three of them are juveniles and that they used the `takeover' method."

Olympia police called the bank robbery one of the most sophisticated in the city's history. It was clearly the result of careful calculation and discipline, police and witnesses said.

"They knew exactly what they were doing and where they were going," said Detective Russ Gies, who coordinated the seven-member investigative team, which included two Seattle-based FBI agents.

The robbers wore disguises and were armed when they entered the bank and ordered seven customers and six employees to hit the floor.

While two armed robbers made sure everyone's noses were against the floor, two others began emptying bank drawers.

One of the robbers counted down aloud from 30 seconds, first in 10-second intervals, then five. They were in and out of the bank in 53 seconds and left with an undisclosed amount of cash, police said.

Discarded sweat shirt brought tips to police

An Aberdeen High School Bobcats wrestling sweat shirt and the robbers' guns, which were discarded just moments after the crime, provided a vital clue to the suspects' identities. The sweat shirt, a loaded .357-caliber Magnum and a loaded .22-caliber revolver were found near where the robbers dumped their getaway car, police said.

A publicized description of the sweat shirt brought tips from people who apparently know the suspects. Tipsters said they noticed discrepancies in stories the suspects told following the holdup, police said.

"Let's just say they were not completely candid with people in their post-robbery stories," Bjornstad said.

`Strong potential for them to try again'

At a news conference yesterday, Olympia police said they expect to make additional arrests. Police have made investigation of the crime a top priority.

"Because they didn't run into any hitches during the robbery, there was a strong potential for them to try it again. And this kind of robbery could turn into a very violent and dangerous situation," Bjornstad said.

The July 31 robbery had originally been blamed on a group of boys and a girl because witnesses described the suspects as looking like 12- to 16-year-olds, one of them female. However, witnesses said all four robbers had concealed their faces in one way or another. And all had on baggy pants and sweat shirts, probably worn as overclothes.

Police had speculated that the robbery was inspired by television or movies, and that the robbers learned police investigative tactics from the same sources.

Finding the videotape of the film "Set It Off" among the suspects' belongings seemingly confirms that theory.

The film, starring Jada Pinkett and Queen Latifah, focuses on four women from Los Angeles who "decide to beat the system by robbing banks and end up testing their friendship to deadly ends," according to film critic Leonard Maltin's description in the book "1998 Movie and Video Guide."