Details in last month’s North Bend bank robbery came to light last week after the King County Prosecutor’s Office filed charges against the 58-year-old North Bend man suspected in the crime.

Detectives found probable cause for two counts of first-degree bank robbery against Warren M. Richardson, in connection with heists at Sterling Savings in downtown North Bend and Frontier Bank in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood.

Richardson pleaded innocent at a Tuesday, Dec. 1, arraignment. The next hearing is set for Dec. 28.

In a statement to county prosecutors, Sheriff’s Det. Mike Mellis related how the robber approached a North Bend bank teller on the afternoon of Friday, Nov. 6, announcing, “I’m here to rob you.” As the teller slowly gathered cash, the man told her, ‘Don’t make me pull my gun out.”

When the cash was laid on the counter, the man scooped it up and fled on foot. Bank employees determined that the robber made off with less than $400. No weapon was seen.

Three days later, detectives believe that the same man entered the Ballard branch of Frontier Bank in Seattle. The robber asked for all the money on hand, collecting just under $2,000 — plus a security dye pack. A witness saw the dye pack go off as he fled.

Both banks provided investigators with video or still pictures of the suspect, and each teller gave the same description: a Caucasian man in his 50s with the same body build and long, gray hair.

When the photos were made public, deputies were contacted by several citizens, one of whom identified Richardson. On Wednesday, Nov. 16, deputies learned that Richardson was at Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center for an unrelated medical matter. He was contacted by detectives in his hospital room and questioned.

Richardson is currently in custody at King County Jail.