The suspect of a July 15 Silverdale bank robbery who was later arrested in Texas while attempting to fly out to Costa Rica was booked into Kitsap County Jail July 31 and is facing a charge of first-degree robbery.
39-year-old Paul Huelle was booked at 8:15 a.m. and appeared in Superior Court in Port Orchard for his arraignment later that afternoon. Bail was initially set at $1 million prior to arraignment, but it was set by Judge Jeffrey Bassett at $500,000 in the hearing. The judge said he took into account the lack of prior charges of this sort in his decision to lower, but other arguments from the prosecution solidified his belief that high bail remained necessary.
Police responded to Timberland Bank located off Bucklin Hill Road in Silverdale at approximately 1:20 p.m. July 15 after the suspect, described in court documents as a white man wearing a ball cap, “what appeared to be a black long-haired wig”, a face mask and gloves allegedly stole over $2,000 from the bank.
Police in probable cause documents write that the suspect initially entered the bank and stated he forgot his wallet and ID in his car. Upon returning to the bank’s interior, he approached a teller’s window and allegedly passed her a typed note stating, “Put as much (money) in the bag as you can. I am being forced to do this.”
The teller told police that a weapon was never displayed, but she gave the suspect “a little bit of everything” referring to cash and was able to press her distress button at that time. The suspect then allegedly put the cash in the gift bag he was holding and left the bank.
The location of the suspect was unknown when police arrived, but a bag containing objects from the robbery was located by a security guard at Crista Shores Senior Living Center. Documents said the objects recovered include the articles of clothing worn by the suspect as seen on the bank’s security footage, a bag identical to the one used during the robbery, Covergirl brand makeup and the typed note.
The full message of the note as reported in the documents allegedly includes the following: “Put as many bills in the bag as you can. No fake bills or tricks and no one gets hurt. I am being forced to do this. You have one minute. Give this note back to me.”
Security video from the Crista Shores site identified a black Nissan Xterra parked next to where the items left behind were found. The registration came back belonging to Huelle, and an analysis of his previous booking photo and several Facebook photos led to Huelle being further identified as a suspect in the case, police said.
A search warrant was served at the Bremerton address registered to Huelle’s vehicle, with police discovering another bag of items similar to those used in the robbery in the process. An interview with a family member led to the discovery that Huelle, his fiancé and children were on the way to Costa Rica with a connection in Texas. That ultimately led to Huelle’s arrest after his first flight from Seatac to Dallas-Fort Worth.
