LONGVIEW, Wash. A man who managed to evade police twice after robbing the same Red Canoe CU branch in December and January proved his own worst enemy when his bragging led police to him.
Several people called police last month saying Harley Clappe, who was described as an unemployed, homeless drug user, was waving around “large amounts of cash” and boasting that he robbed a credit union, according to police.
On Friday, police tracked Clappe, 28, to a home where he had been staying and, using a loudspeaker, ordered everyone out of the house. Clappe was arrested as he tried to scramble out a back bedroom window. Clappe allegedly robbed the Red Canoe CU branch on Dec. 28. Witnesses said a man with scabs on his face handed over a note demanding cash, then escaped on foot with $1,500.
On Jan. 17, a man, also with scabs on his face, entered the same credit union branch, presented note and ran off with $2,000, investigators said.
A teller told investigators the man who robbed the branch on Jan. 17 “was the same man who robbed her” on Dec. 28, according to the report.
Sometime in the last two weeks, detectives listened in on a phone conversation during which a police informant discussed the robberies with Clappe, investigators said. “I know if I do another one I’m going away for a long time,” Clappe told the informant.
