2 Parolees Arrested In Lynnwood Bank Heist

Two federal-prison parolees, including one with ties to white supremacists, have been arrested and charged with robbing a Lynnwood bank.

Jacob Schmitt and Tim Wenner appeared yesterday before federal Magistrate Ricardo Martinez in U.S. District Court in Seattle, where they were charged with bank robbery and firearms violations.

If convicted, they could serve up to 25 years in prison and be fined up to $250,000.

The men were arrested several hours after the Lynnwood branch of Wells Fargo Bank was robbed Monday by two men. The bandits, armed with a shotgun and a handgun, took $5,894. According to bank employees, the men were wearing camouflage face netting.

The arrests came after Deputy U.S. Marshal Angel Del Valle, conducting an investigation into another fugitive, spotted a vehicle that matched the description of the car used in the bank robbery earlier in the day.

Marshals began following Schmitt, according to court documents, hoping he would lead them to the other fugitive. They watched him spend several hundred dollars at the Everett Mall, some of which turned out to be bait money taken in the bank robbery.

Schmitt and Wenner were arrested at gunpoint about 7 p.m. Monday. A search of their hotel room turned up several hundred dollars in cash and the two weapons allegedly used in the holdup.

Schmitt, who appeared in court yesterday with a shaved head and heavily tattooed arms, reportedly is affiliated with the Aryan Family, a racist prison gang, according to a law-enforcement source who asked not to be identified.

Denny Behrend, supervisor of investigations for the U.S. Marshal's Office, said both men were inmates at the Washington Corrections Center in Shelton, Mason County. Schmitt was released less than a month ago after serving 26 months for armed robbery and malicious mischief. Wenner got out in June after serving a sentence for burglary. Mike Carter's phone message number is 206-464-3706. His e-mail address is mcarter@seattletimes.com