Young man linked to Hazel Dell bank robbery

HAZEL DELL, Wash. - Turns out, authorities didn't have to look very far to find a bank robbery suspect.

He lived less than three blocks from the bank.

Alex Boonsteel, 19, of 249 N.E. Notchlog Drive, was arrested Saturday and lodged in the Clark County jail in connection with the robbery of an Umpqua Bank branch at 600 N.E. 99th St. a day earlier, the Clark County Sheriff's Office said.

Investigators were led to Boonsteel's home after receiving an anonymous tip that the bank robbery suspect lived there. Investigators recognized Boonsteel as the man whose image was captured by bank surveillance video during the Friday afternoon robbery, the sheriff's office said.

During that incident, a robber gave a teller a note demanding money about 4:30 p.m. and then ran out of the back of the building after receiving an undisclosed amount of cash, the sheriff's office said.

Police responded and recovered the robber's note and jacket, but the robber escaped.