Bothell Bank Robber Admits 15 Holdups

EASTSIDE

A Bothell man dubbed "the baseball-cap robber" faces up to 20 years in prison after he pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday to six counts of bank robbery for a string of Eastside heists last summer.

Included in 30-year-old Randall Scott Fermstad's admissions before U.S. Magistrate John Weinberg in Seattle were six robberies in Kirkland, Bothell and Redmond in July and August, eight other robberies on the Eastside and one in Las Vegas. He also admitted attempting to rob a Seafirst Bank branch in Redmond.

Fermstad earned his nickname because in each holdup he wore a ballcap and dark sunglasses as he waited in the bank line, then handed the teller a note that implied he was armed.

Police caught Fermstad in October when security guards at the Muckleshoot Indian Casino in Auburn recognized him from a publicized surveillance video.

Sentencing was set for Feb. 22 before U.S. District Judge William Dwyer. Fermstad is also required to pay $27,200 in

restitution.