License number leads police to robbery suspect

Robert E. Koethe cased the Check Into Cash store, and the TwinStar Credit Union next door, police say, before holding up the cash store Tuesday afternoon.

But his alleged odd behavior in the Hazel Dell credit union earlier had caused an employee to write down the license number of his car.

So after Koethe allegedly held up the cash store, deputies traced the license to his home at 800 N.W. Sluman Road, near Vancouver Lake.

Minutes later, Koethe, 49, was arrested at gunpoint, sitting in his car in his driveway.

Koethe was taken to the Clark County Jail on suspicion of second-degree robbery, said Sgt. TimBieber with the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.

At 4:54 p.m., as deputies rushed to the cash store at 1307 N.E. 78th St., emergency dispatchers said the robber was a man in his 60s with a shaggy-in-back mullet haircut.

The robber had walked in, demanded cash and was given some.

“He said he knew there was more, so he walked around the counter and took more money,” Bieber said.

No weapon was seen.

The robber was last seen walking east, but dispatchers first said no escape vehicle was seen.

But as deputies arrived, credit union employees gave them a description of the man they’d noticed in their office earlier that day, and a description of his car and its license number.

After the arrest, Bieber said Koethe will be evaluated for possible mental issues.

Detectives planned to seek warrants to search the car and Koethe’s home for evidence of the robbery.

“He had plenty of time to get into his house before we arrived,” Bieber said.

As of Tuesday evening, Bieber said Koethe isn’t thought to be the person the FBI calls “Mullet Man,” who robbed five banks in this area recently.

Adding to Koethe’s possible problems with the law, his presence in the credit union was videotaped, Bieber said.