A customer of Banner Bank on Rainier Avenue South gave chase to a bank robbery suspect Thursday morning, catching up with the Auburn man on Tobin Street and holding him in a bear hug until police arrived.

The customer was one of two – including one in his vehicle – who chased the 23-year-old suspect after he robbed the bank of an undisclosed amount of cash at about 9:30 a.m.

First pointing out that what the two men did was courageous, Renton Police Commander Paul Cline said that a safer course of action was to follow the suspect, keeping police alerted via cell phone until officers could make an arrest.

“That’s not something that we recommend people do, especially in a situation where you could have an armed subject,” Cline said. “You look at what could have happened as opposed to what happened.”

He said police recommend that someone in a similar situation “be the best witness they can.”

Still, Cline didn’t want to take anything away from what “these two guys did. They caught a bank robber.”

Cline said the two customers were “pretty pumped.”

According to Cline, the suspect presented a note demanding money from a bank teller and implied he had a weapon concealed in his jacket. With cash in hand, the suspect fled on foot.

The two customers chased the suspect to the 200 block of South Tobin Street. Officers arrived in about a minute, Cline said, took the man into custody and recovered the money.

Bank employees identified the man as the robbery suspect. He was booked into Renton City Jail.

This is the second robbery in Renton in just over a week.

A 19-year-old man has been charged in a robbery of US Bank on Northeast Sunset Boulevard just before noon on Feb. 2, according to Cline.

The man fled on foot after demanding cash. Bank employees had a good description of the man, which allowed police officers to spot him about two blocks from the bank, according to Cline.

Bank employees made a positive identification of the suspect.