An Enumclaw woman was arrested following a Maple Valley bank robbery and has admitted to three other hold-ups in the Puget Sound region.
Jaycee E. Kimberling, 27, was arrested Aug. 4, along with her longtime boyfriend, Kasen San, 39, of Sumner. Both have been charged with a single count of first-degree robbery and will be arraigned the morning of Aug. 23 at the Regional Justice Center in Kent.
The latest robbery
According to charging documents provided by the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, here’s how the events of Aug. 4 unfolded.
It was approximately 12:43 on the Saturday afternoon when Kimberling entered the KeyBank branch on 225th Way Southeast in Maple Valley. She was clearly visible on the bank’s surveillance cameras as she stepped to the counter and handed the bank teller a note: “I have a gun!” it read. “Don’t be stupid give me 10K in 100’s and 50’s bills and nobody will get hurt. You got 1 min, go!”
The teller emptied her case drawer and handed Kimberling the money. As the suspect walked out the bank door, the teller pushed an alarm button and called 911. A second teller followed the suspect out the door and yelled something along the lines of, “We’ve been robbed, follow that woman.”
A bank customer was approaching the building, heard what was going on and saw Kimberling jog away. He watched as she ran toward a black Camaro, noticing the trunk was open and a man was standing beside the vehicle. Kimberling hopped into the trunk, the man pushed it shut and then drove away.
With a description of the distinctive sports car immediately broadcast, it was about 20 minutes until the Camaro was spotted at the Tiger Mountain Trailhead off Highway 18. The suspects had traveled less than nine miles. Both Kimberling – who had crawled from the trunk and was sitting in the Camaro’s passenger seat – and San were taken into police custody and deputies found the clothing Kimberling had worn into the bank.
Deputies delivered the bank teller to the Tiger Mountain site, where she identified Kimberling as the one who produced the threatening note and walked off with the stolen cash. Both Kimberling and San were arrested and booked into the King County Jail.
During the booking process, it was discovered San was in possession of $1,584 in cash. A KeyBank audit quickly determined that was exactly the amount taken during the robbery. While searching the Camaro, authorities found handwritten “practice notes” that matched the note Kimberling had left on the counter of the Maple Valley KeyBank branch.
CONNECTION TO OTHER ROBBERIES
Detectives had been investigating three earlier robberies in King and Snohomish counties and determined they had been committed by the same unknown female suspect. Those robberies were on May 9 at Washington Federal Credit Union in Marysville, May 11 at the Washington Federal Credit Union branch in Lynnwood and June 9 at a KeyBank east of Renton.
A day after the Maple Valley robbery, detectives from the King County Sheriff’s Office and Marysville Police Department interviewed Kimberling. After being told of her Miranda rights and with both audio and video recording devices documenting the interview, Kimberling admitted to all four bank heists.
She and San have initially been charged with just the Maple Valley robbery but charges are pending in the other three crimes.
Asked about a motive for the bank robberies, Kimberling cited drug purchases, San’s gambling habit and, finally, “homelessness and general lack of cash.”
Both suspects have a history with law enforcement. San has prior convictions for theft, assault, driving under the influence, malicious mischief and unlawful possession of a firearm. Kimberling has criminal convictions for assault, theft and malicious mischief.
