Two Men Wanted in Series of Violent Bank Robberies Arrested in Renton

Two men were arrested Monday morning in Renton in connection with a series of take-over style bank robberies in the region since January, including one at the Newcastle Bank of America on July 1.

According to a press release issued by the Seattle FBI office, Jeffery Lamont Pool, 47, of Wichita Falls, Texas, and Luther Ray Leonard, 23, of Renton, were arrested after a search warrant was executed at their Renton residence Monday at about 6:45 a.m. a few blocks north of N.E. 3rd Street and Jefferson Avenue N.E. 

Investigators also executed a second search warrant at another residence in Newcastle, at the intersection of Newcastle Way and Coal Creek Parkway S.E. 

Pool was also wanted on several warrants out of Texas for a series of armed robberies in that state and violation of his state parole in 2011.

The arrest Monday came about thanks to the work of the Seattle Safe Streets Task Force (SSSTF) that in this investigation includes the FBI, King County Sheriff's Office, Auburn Police Department and the Seattle Police Department. The SSSTF as a whole is a combined effort of more than half a dozen agencies through deputized task force officers.

The King County Sheriff's Office in early July released photo and video surveillance from several of the robberies in hopes of gathering citizen information on the suspects. Several robberies dating back to January are believed to be connected to one or both of the men, including another robbery January 16 at the Key Bank in Newcastle.

The SSSTF continues to investigate the robberies attributed to the men, nicknamed "Big Top Bandits" because of their clothing, which included a variety of hats worn at every robbery. They are:

• January 16, 2013 – Key Bank, Newcastle

• February 28, 2013 – Key Bank, Rainier Avenue Branch, Seattle