`Cowboy Boot Robber' Suspected In Holdup

SPOKANE

A mystery bandit dubbed by the television show "Unsolved Mysteries" as "cowboy boot robber" is suspected in a credit union holdup yesterday, authorities said.

Officers believe the man is responsible for several armed bank robberies in Spokane County during 1988 and 1989.

The man who robbed the Horizon Credit Union in the Spokane Valley used methods witnesses cited in a string of other unsolved holdups, sheriff's Sgt. Danny O'Dell said.

After approaching the credit union's counter, the robber showed a gun and told tellers not to trigger any alarms, O'Dell said.

After the robber was given the money, he directed credit union employees into a vault so they could not see his getaway, O'Dell said.

The man is suspected of robbing the same credit union in 1989, and of committing a holdup at the same building in 1988 when it housed a First Interstate Bank branch.

Authorities said he also was a suspect in two additional Spokane County holdups in 1988 and another in 1989.

"Unsolved Mysteries" dubbed the man "the cowboy boot robber" because he was seen in at least one robbery wearing cowboy boots.