Suspect Pleads Guilty To Eight CURobberies

SEATTLE - (11/04/04) -- A 41-year-old Vancouver, Wash., manconfessed last week to 10 armed robberies in the Puget Sound area,including eight at credit unions since 2001. Clifford Uptegrove wasarrested last March 25 after he made his getaway from a robbery atRiverview Community Bank in Hazel Dell, Wash., on a bicycle.Witnesses called police when they saw Uptegrove loading the bike ina van because they thought he was stealing the bike. Whenquestioned by police Uptegrove confessed to robbing the 10institutions, including Kennewick Community FCU on March 1, 201;Spokane City CU on July 1, 2002; Oregon Central CU on July 3, 2003;Kennewick Community FCU again on August 27, 2003; Spokane City CUagain on January 27, 2004; Oregon Central CU again on February 6,2004; and Olympia CU on March 1, 2004. In a plea agreement,Uptegrove was convicted of one count of armed bank robbery andusing a firearm during the commission of a violent crime and wasordered to pay $57,714, the total amount he stole during therobbery spree.