SEQUIM — Four Sequim men were charged Monday in connection with a pair of October late-night crimes outside two local banks — one considered by police to be a “bogus” robbery disguising a theft.
The first of the crimes, on Oct. 12 at the Bank of America at 114 S. Sequim Ave., was apparently staged to disguise a theft of $1,045.58 from the Sequim McDonald’s restaurant, said Sequim Police Sgt. Dave Campbell and Sequim Police spokeswoman Maris Turner.
The other — on Oct. 16 at Kitsap Bank, 990 E. Washington St. — was a true robbery of about $1,300 from a Tootsie’s restaurant employee who was about to make a night deposit at the bank, police said.
Tyler Gordeuk, 19, was charged with second-degree robbery and first-degree theft, both class B felonies, and one count of second-degree theft, a class C felony.
Sean Farren, 20, was charged with one count of second-degree theft.
Kyle Phipps, 21, was charged with one count of second-degree robbery and one count of first-degree theft.
Jeremy Gelisse, 27, was charged with one count of second-degree theft and one count of malicious prosecution, or causing another person to be arrested for a crime.
All four were booked into the Clallam County jail on Saturday and charged Monday.
‘Premeditated in detail’
“Both criminal incidents were premeditated with great detail,” Campbell said in a prepared statement.
“The first incident at Bank of America was initially reported to police by Gelisse . . . as a robbery,” he said.
At the time, Gelisse was an employee of the Sequim McDonald’s, he said.
“As the investigation unfolded, officers discovered that the robbery had been staged and planned by Gordeuk, Farren and Gelisse,” Campbell said.
Over the four-week investigation, it became evident that the first so-called robbery “just didn’t add up and was determined to be bogus,” Campbell said.
“It appears that incident was a false report filed intentionally to try and throw police off of a theft of business funds, and was made to try and protect the identity of the criminal actors involved.”
In the Oct. 12 theft, said Turner, “Gelisse had reported being a victim of robbery, but “the investigation revealed that he was a participant in the crime.”
Gelisse, Farren and Gordeuk were charged in connection with the Oct. 12 theft.
Gordeuk and Phipps were charged in connection with the Oct 16 robbery.
Campbell praised the work of the Sequim patrol officers and of Sgt. John Keegan of the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office.
“Sgt. Keegan was instrumental in getting this investigation completed. . . . We’re at a point at Sequim PD where our staffing levels couldn’t handle a case of this magnitude and also juggle our regular call load, because we’ve had a lot of staff out sick with the flu,” Campbell said.
“I asked for Sgt. Keegan’s assistance as our patrol officers got rolling with leads, a search warrant and interviews of suspects, which began to snowball over the weekend, and the Sheriff’s Office came through in a big way for us.”
________
Sequim-Dungeness Valley Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
