Another Canadian, Tigra J.A. Robertson, 20, of Kelowna, B.C., was taken into custody Aug. 13 at the Sumas border crossing. He voluntarily gave himself up to FBI agents after his uncle turned him in to Canadian authorities.
"The uncle reported that Robertson was sorry for what he had done and wanted to surrender to U.S. authorities," says FBI agent Shaide. He is accused of being the other robber with a handgun who filled a money bag.
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On his MySpace Web page, Robertson says he was in the Canadian military reserve and was a volunteer firefighter. He says he doesn't smoke or drink and claims he makes—or wants to make—$250,000 a year.
The fourth person in the bank, authorities allege, was another teen, also Canadian. Nathan Dunmall, 18, of Chilliwack, east of Vancouver, was picked up Aug. 18. Like Sommer, he is fighting extradition from Canada. He is accused of being the other robber watching the doors and customers with an AK-47.
Of the three Rangers, alleged team leader Luke Sommer was arrested last, picked up by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Aug. 11 at a grocery store in Peachland, B.C., near Kelowna, where the single father lives with his parents and a 2-and-a-half-year-old son.
He is charged with robbery and several counts of possession of illegal weapons, including grenades and a homemade bomb found in a storage locker. U.S. officials, who had deemed him "armed and extremely dangerous," say Sommer told Canadian authorities he was the robbery ringleader and has named his accomplices.
Sommer, who has said he joined the U.S. Army in 2003 because of the impression the 9/11 attacks had on him at age 15, said in an online chat on a Rangers page in May that he was one of the few Canadians in his unit, but "I'm not alone, one other guy from my squad is from B.C., one guy in snipers is from Calgary. . . . We are growing."
Records show Sommer was involved in Ranger combat operations in Afghanistan in 2005 and Iraq in 2004 but, as with all Ranger missions, details are secret. Well-trained in the use of heavy firepower, Sommer, in charging papers, is accused of providing the extra banana-clip magazines to fellow Ranger Palmer and teenager Dunmall "in the event that the conspirators became involved in a firefight with law enforcement."
The alleged robber interviewed by the Weekly insisted the weapons display was all show and that the two suspects with AK-47s kept the automatic rifles slung over their shoulders at least part of the time—which the FBI confirms.
He also maintains the license plate gaffe isn't the only indication the robbers intended to get caught so they could tell their story. There was all that evidence obviously lying around the alleged robbers' rooms back at Fort Lewis. And the car was parked outside.
"Please, I mean, two minutes, 21 seconds, a precision robbery, and then, boom, caught the next day? That was no accident." In essence, he suggests they weren't stupid enough to unintentionally leave a trail.
His story may be a tough sell, and he admits he has motive to peddle it: The feds are planning to seek extra-long sentences, in some cases from 30 years to life, he says, suggesting the threat of stiff terms is intended to muzzle the soldiers.
"You have three guys with security clearances and two foreign nationals. What's the best way to keep them quiet?" he asks. "Throw them in jail. That's what they do in Iraq."
randerson@seattleweekly.com
