Off-duty detective nabs bank robber


June 11, 2008 · Updated 1:28 PM 

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It’s the perfect example of being in the right place at the right time.

Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office Detective Chad Birkenfeld caught a bank robber within eight minutes of the crime being committed.

At about 3:45 p.m. on Dec. 2, a 24-year-old man from Seabeck walked into Bank of America, located in the Clear Creek Centre in Silverdale, and demanded money from the teller as he covered his mouth. No weapons were displayed and he did not threaten to use force. The suspect took the cash and then fled on foot.

At about the same time, unknown to the robber, Birkenfeld also was in Clear Creek Centre picking up some eye glasses on his way home. He was returning to his unmarked sheriff’s vehicle when the robber went running past him, taking off gloves.

“When he ran past me I knew he did something wrong, but I didn’t know what it was at first,” Birkenfeld said. “As he was running past, I got a mental note.”

Birkenfeld’s suspicions were confirmed when he overheard the radio dispatch of a robbery that had just occurred at the

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