On June 2, Port Orchard Police arrested Gerald Lewis Yanac, 51, who was the suspect in the May 28 robbery of the Chase Bank branch at Fred Meyer on Sedgwick Road.
Yanac’s address is listed in court records as being in Tacoma although his Facebook page has his hometown as Port Orchard.
He was charged in Kitsap County Superior Court June 2 with one count of first-degree robbery and escape. Court records show Yanac took just under $15,000 from the bank.
Yanac reportedly entered the main westside Fred Meyer store entrance at 11:56 a.m., walked past the bank branch, then returned and entered it wearing sunglasses. He walked up to the bank counter, removed a black bag and placed it in front of a teller, and demanded she empty her till drawers. After receiving the money, the bank employee said the robber walked out of the store and headed westward.
When Port Orchard Police officers arrived, they obtained identifying information from branch tellers and a copy of the surveillance video. Shortly after, a Bremerton Police K-9 officer and his canine partner conducted a search of an area near bank heading in the westward direction. A scent wasn’t established, the police report stated.
Yanac was initially identified by a police department detective as a subject of interest based on physical attributes identified through Chase Bank surveillance video, said Port Orchard Police Cmdr. Dale Schuster. Detective Beth Deatherage stated in her court report that she recognized Yanac’s unusual gait from her investigation of a Key Bank Bay Street branch robbery in 2012.
He received a 12-year sentence for first-degree robbery, but charges were later reduced to first-degree theft. Yanac had been released from jail for that crime in October.
The suspect was contacted by Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office Detective Tim Keeler earlier in the week and was brought in for an interview at Port Orchard Police headquarters. Yanac initially denied involvement in the Chase Bank robbery, but eventually admitted he had taken the money. Police found he was carrying $900 and had the bulk of the remainder in a backpack he brought to the interview. He told detectives he had spent about $1,000 of the stolen cash.
A first-degree escape charge was filed against Yanac after he attempted to escape from detectives while smoking a cigarette outside the police headquarters.
Schuster said detectives from the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI also were instrumental in tracking down the suspect. He said that some tips from the public also were received about the robbery.
“We believe a significant amount of the money taken from the bank has been recovered,” Schuster said.
