East Wenatchee police arrest man tied to past ‘serial bank robberies’

EAST WENATCHEE — A man taken into custody outside People’s Bank on Valley Mall Parkway last week is the same person federal prosecutors once labeled a “serial bank robber,” according to police and court records.

East Wenatchee police said they responded Sept. 16 to a hold-up panic alarm at People’s Bank on Valley Mall Parkway. Officers surrounded the branch while Rivercom dispatch attempted to reach employees inside. Earlier that morning, Officer Brandon Johnson had hand-delivered photos of the suspect in a Sept. 12 Wenatchee bank robbery attempt at the Maple Street branch of Cashmere Valley Bank to East Wenatchee banks. Staff at People’s Bank recognized a customer in a white dress shirt, tie and slacks as matching the photo and relayed that to dispatch.

When the man stepped outside, officers visually confirmed he matched the Wenatchee suspect. He started to change direction as he saw police positioned around the building, then raised his hands and surrendered without incident. Police say he is a 42-year-old from Manson and also had a U.S. Marshals felony warrant tied to another bank robbery.

Law enforcement and federal court records indicate the man is Cameron (also reported as Camron) Len Gaunt. In 2011, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington announced that Cameron Len Gaunt, then 28 and formerly of Chelan, was sentenced to 96 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to three July 2010 bank robberies in Omak, Wenatchee, and Moses Lake; he was arrested July 20, 2010, in Spokane.

In 2018, Washington state media reported that Gaunt was wanted as a suspect in multiple King County robberies, with authorities warning he might be in the Wenatchee/Chelan area.

Police said the Sept. 16 East Wenatchee response was triggered by the bank’s alarm, not a robbery in progress, and credited quick recognition by bank employees and Officer Johnson’s same-day photo outreach for the safe arrest.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media