Lynnwood man charged in 5 holdups

King County prosecutors yesterday filed five robbery charges against a 36-year-old Lynnwood man whom police shot in the leg Monday as he allegedly tried to rob a bank on Mercer Island.

Prosecutors say they believe Darrel Curtis Holm is responsible for stealing $15,182 in cash from at least four King County banks, starting Oct. 29.

Mercer Island patrol Officer Manny Rucker shot Holm once in the right knee during what prosecutors and police describe as Holm's fifth robbery.

Holm is in custody at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he is recovering from surgery. Held on $200,000 bail, he is to be arraigned next Tuesday in King County Superior Court.

Holm's distinct style included wearing a white dust or paint mask in four of the robberies, prosecutors said. FBI investigators said Holm was bold and aggressive; in his last two attempts, allegedly including Monday, they said, he walked up to the drive-through teller, said he was heavily armed and demanded cash.

Mercer Island police Officer Jennifer Franklin has said Rucker shot Holm after Holm ran away from the bank, turned around in a parking lot and reached for something in a green insulated lunch cooler.

"Under the circumstances, Manny thought he was reaching for a gun," Franklin said. No weapon was recovered. Holm didn't get any money.

Mercer Island Police Chief Jan Deveny has ordered an internal investigation into the shooting.

Rucker, 51, is a 28-year veteran of the Police Department with 24 years of experience as a firearms instructor. He was involved in another shooting in June 1985, when he shot and injured a gas-station robbery suspect in Seattle, after a chase across the Interstate 90 bridge. That was the most recent shooting involving Mercer Island police.

Michael Ko: 206-515-5653 or mko@seattletimes.com.