The man suspected of robbing the Wells Fargo Bank in downtown Great Falls on Wednesday was one door away from a clean getaway. Unfortunately for him, he picked the wrong door.

Johny James Laverdure, 33, was trying to walk out of the Oakland International Airport on Thursday, but set off an alarm when he opened a restricted door, Sgt. Bruce McVey of the Alameda County Sheriff's Office said Friday afternoon.

After triggering the alarm, Lavendure entered an off-limits area of the airport. According to another sergeant with the Alameda County Sheriff's Office, Lavendure, in an apparent effort to cover up his identity, took off all his clothes and everything he had on him and hid them in a closet. Airport security alerted Alameda County sheriff's deputies, who found the unclothed Lavendure hiding from authorities. The sergeant said he didn't know if Lavendure had other clothes he had planned to change into.

Deputies questioned Laverdure, McVey said, and ran his name through an FBI database, which showed warrants from Washington state on felony charges of obstruction of justice and auto theft, McVey said.

The deputies called officers in Washington to report they'd found Laverdure.

Coincidences

That was the second call the officers in Washington got about Laverdure that day.

Hours after a man walked into the Wells Fargo Bank at 21 3rd St. N. Wednesday morning and demanded money from the teller, Great Falls Police released pictures of an unmasked suspect taken from bank security cameras.

Local media published the pictures and, over the next day, detectives received about 25 phone calls with information on the suspect.

Several of those calls - including one from a Butte detective who saw the photos in the Tribune and was sure he recognized the man - led police to focus on Laverdure. Great Falls detectives ran his name through the FBI database, and learned of Laverdure's warrants in Washington.

Detective Bill Bellusci called the Washington officers to compare notes about Laverdure, but neither agency knew where to find the man.

Then, suddenly, they did.

Pieces come together

When deputies in Oakland called Washington, officers there put the California deputies in touch with Bellusci.

Laverdure was arrested in the airport about 1 p.m. Thursday, and booked in an Oakland jail on the charges out of Washington. He had a "large amount" of cash on him, McVey said, noting it was less than $2,000.

On Friday, Cascade County Attorney John Parker filed charges of felony robbery against Laverdure.

Police believe Laverdure left Great Falls shortly after the robbery Wednesday and took a car to Seattle. He flew from Seattle to Oakland on Thursday, arriving just after noon.

Police don't know what Laverdure had planned from there, but McVey said Laverdure didn't have a plane ticket to go anywhere beyond Oakland when he was arrested.

Criminal record

It's not yet known whether Laverdure will be extradited to Washington or Montana first, Newton said.

Laverdure does have a criminal record in Montana - most of it from Cascade County. He previously was convicted of burglary, theft and criminal mischief in Cascade County in 1995, according to the Montana Department of Corrections Web site. He also was convicted of burglary in Silver Bow County in 2003. He served prison time for each of those offenses.

He was born in Great Falls, according to the Web site. Police said his last known address is in Butte.

Laverdure never would have attracted the attention of law enforcement at the airport if he'd gone through the correct door, McVey said.

"If they were smart, our job would be a lot harder," he said.