Suspected bank robber led Idaho police on two-way chase on I-84. Here’s how it ended

The Mountain Home Police Department spent Tuesday responding to a bank robbery, pursuing a suspect both eastbound and westbound on Interstate 84, and releasing the original “getaway driver” — who had no knowledge of the alleged crime, according to a news release.

There also was a bomb scare at the bank that was robbed.

In the end, the man police say was responsible was apprehended on I-84 and taken into custody.

The strange story started after the Chase Bank in Mountain Home reported that it had been robbed just after 9 a.m., police said. Employees told police they saw the alleged robber in a car on American Legion Boulevard. That vehicle was stopped by law enforcement and the driver surrendered, according to police.

“His passenger, the described suspect, climbed into the driver’s seat and drove away from the stop at a high rate of speed,” a news release said.

Both the Mountain Home Police Department and the Elmore County Sheriff’s Office pursued the man eastbound on I-84. The chase was too fast to let officers “safely close the distance” to do a Pursuit Intervention Technique to stop the vehicle, the release said.

Shortly after that, the vehicle jumped the center median near mile marker 117 and the suspect drove back toward Mountain Home westbound on I-84.

At mile marker 104, deputies were able to perform the PIT stop, halting the driver on the right shoulder of the freeway, police said. The vehicle sustained minor damage, police said, but the patrol cars were fine.

The robbery suspect was taken into custody and the money he allegedly took from the bank was recovered, police said.

Bank employees told police that the man had left a backpack and said there was an explosive device inside. Air Force bomb disposal units were called to assist, police said, and they discovered that the backpack contained several water bottles and some clothing.

The man who was first driving and surrendered at the initial traffic stop told police that he had no idea about the robbery, according to the release. The man who allegedly robbed the bank confirmed this, police said, and the first driver was released.