GRANTS PASS, Ore. – A Washington State man wanted in connection with a Grants Pass bank robbery is now in custody.
The Grants Pass Department of Public Safety said the robbery happened on January 31, 2020, just before noon at the Rogue Credit Union on Northeast Terry Lane.
According to police, a man entered the bank and demanded money before leaving with an undisclosed amount of cash.
A Grants Pass emergency dispatcher on National Guard duty overseas reportedly saw a post on social media indicating 21-year-old Joseph Samuel Arrunategui went missing after telling his family he robbed a bank in Washington State. On her own time, the dispatcher did further research and was able to find information linking Arrunategui to the Grants Pass robbery.
Using the information from the dispatcher and further investigation, police were able to name Arrunategui as a suspect in the Grants Pass incident.
Detectives said they found out Arrunategui was arrested in Mineral County, Nevada on unrelated charges on February 1. Several search warrants were executed in Mineral County where further evidence was found linking Arrunategui to the Rogue Credit Union robbery.
Arrunategui is in the Mineral County Jail and has an arrest warrant out of Washington. Charges for the alleged crimes in Josephine County will be forwarded to prosecutors for consideration.
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