Former Coug Football Player Charged in Shoreline Bank Robbery

 A former Washington State University football star was charged with first-degree robbery for an attempted bank robbery June 8 at Whidbey Island Bank in Shoreline’s Ballinger neighborhood.

Derrick Dillon, who graduated from Rogers High School in Puyallup in 1998, played for the Cougars from 2000-2003, and studied psychology and criminal justice at WSU.

Police arrested the 6-foot-3, 230-pound Dillon June 14 at his Seattle residence and he was charged June 17, according to a determination of probable cause. He is in the King County Jail with bail set at $225,000.

Arraignment is set for June 30 at 8:30 a.m. in courtroom 1201 at the King County Courthouse.

Dillon is also suspected in a May 31 robbery at Homestreet Bank in Mountlake Terrace and robbery of a Bank of America branch in Milton in Pierce County June 8, about 90 minutes after the Shoreline robbery, according the probable cause statement.

Tellers from all three banks picked Dillon out of a lineup as the person who robbed their respective banks.

Dillon is alleged to have entered the Whidbey Island Bank at 11:13 a.m. wearing dark sunglasses and a burgundy-colored sweat jacket with an arrow-shaped graphic on the front. He presented the teller with a demand note, saying something similar to, “This is a stick-up. No dye packs.” He gave the teller a bag hidden in his clothes and the teller put $3,400 cash in it and slipped in a dye pack.

Dillon ran from the bank but the dye pack exploded and he dropped the bag with the cash.

Detectives released images from the Shoreline and Milton incidents to the media and within two days, detectives received several tips from concerned friends and former co-workers naming Dillon as the suspect.

They told detectives about Dillon’s work history, debt troubles and possible cocaine abuse.

Detectives talked to Dillon’s parents on June 11 and his father agreed that the suspect looked like his son while his mother was not certain. They told police that Dillon had been driving their blue 2003 Jetta and had been told to leave their home several months ago because of personal issues.

Handwriting samples obtained from Dillon’s former employer in Arizona also appeared to be similar to the handwriting in the robbery notes.

On June 14, Dillon’s live-in girlfriend was contacted and shown the photos and confirmed that Dillon appeared to be in the photos and appeared to be wearing one of her baseball-style hats in the Milton robbery photos.

Dillon was later located at the residence in Seattle and arrested without incident. He confirmed his parents’ Jetta was parked in the garage but made no other statements on his attorney’s advice.

 However, the King County Prosecutor's request for bail stated that Dillon gave a full confession after his arrest.