Case closed in bank heist

Within 30 minutes of a bank robbery Wednesday, Carson City sheriff's deputies arrested a suspect sitting in a nearby bar.

Deputies pulled wads of money from the sock and pocket of Paul Pasillas, 46, in the parking lot of Barb's Y-Not Saloon on Long Street after Carson City Undersheriff Steve Albertsen found him sitting at the bar.

About 4 p.m., a gunman wearing a plaid shirt, white straw hat, big sunglasses and blue jeans, entered the First National Bank of Nevada, 1101 N. Carson St., through the west doors and told the teller, "Gimme all your money," said Lt. Ken Sandage.

The bank is about three blocks from the saloon.

Albertsen said he was responding to the robbery when a bank employee flagged him down near Long Street to say she'd followed the robber from the bank , but lost him in the neighborhood one block east of Carson Street.

While deputies canvassed the neighborhood, Albertsen spoke with an employee sweeping the parking lot of Friends In Service Helping who didn't see anything.

The undersheriff then walked into the saloon and asked the bartender if she'd seen anyone matching the description of the bank robber.

The bartender told Albertsen she hadn't, but she indicated Pasillas had just come in and sat down.

Albertsen and Deputy Rudy Hindelang then approached Pasillas. When they patted him down they allegedly found the cash in his sock and pocket. A plaid shirt, among other items, was found in the bathroom, Albertsen said.

"We believe we found the gun he may have used on the roof of a building in the neighborhood," Albertsen said. "And we found evidence in the bathroom to link him to the robbery."

Albertsen said Pasillas will be booked into the Carson City Jail on a charge of robbery. "We're not sure what other charges will be filed," he said.

Contact F.T. Norton at ftnorton@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1213.