Emily Chan
During his long string of robberies at banks in Seattle, Scott Scurlock managed to evade arrest for many years by dressing up in elaborate disguises and wearing costume makeup. As a result, he was often referred to as the “Hollywood Bandit.”
Scott Scurlock was born in 1955 and grew up in Virginia. His parents were religious but raised him without much structure. Although he was a smart kid, he didn’t really apply himself in school. His friends described him as charming, free-spirited, and somewhat manipulative.
In 1974, he moved to Hawaii to work on a tomato farm, which is when he began engaging in illegal activities. He stole a marijuana plant from a nearby farm and started selling the drug. When his employer discovered the plant on his property, Scurlock was fired.
Afterward, he moved to Olympia, Washington, where he attended Evergreen State College as a premed student in 1978. It wasn’t long before he started sneaking into the school’s chemistry lab to make methamphetamines and selling them for profit. He became a massive drug distributor in the region and used his earnings to fund a lavish lifestyle.
In the early 1990s, Scurlock made the pivot from drug dealer to bank robber after an associate of his was killed. Between 1992 and 1996, he committed nearly 20 bank robberies and stole over a million dollars.
Scurlock robbed his first bank in 1992 with his college friend Mark Biggins. He entered the Seafirst Bank wearing theater makeup and a prosthetic nose while Biggins covered his face with a Ronald Reagan mask. They left the bank with around $20,000. No one was harmed.
Two months later, Scurlock returned to the same bank by himself, wearing a different getup. He walked away with $8,124 without harming anyone.
For the next three months, Scurlock and his partners in crime robbed four more banks in Seattle. He became known for his authoritative manner, intimidating robbery style, theatrical disguises, and his ability to make quick escapes.
By 1993, Scurlock had stolen over $300,000 from banks. He donated a lot of the money to environmental charities. In 1994, he and his associates robbed five banks in the Pacific Northwest. Overall, they stole more than a million dollars from 19 robberies by 1995. In all that time, Scurlock had never hurt a single person.
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