Cops storm motel, arrest three for armed robbery
An eyewitness sent in this cell phone photograph of the scene. By KVAL.com Staff
The Lane County Sheriff's Office arrested three men in their 20s on suspicion of robbing the Siuslaw Valley Bank in Pleasant Hill, Ore. Another three people who were with those men were detained for questioning. Police moved quickly, storming the motel, banging on doors, and arresting the group on the second floor around 9:30 p.m. Thursday. The raid happened so fast, police didn't evacuate any of the other rooms at the Timber Motel in downtown Eugene, Ore. "What really concerned us on this one, though, is in the second robbery there was a pretty large handgun that was displayed," said Captain Bill Thompson with the Lane County Sheriff's Office. "When a weapon gets displayed in a bank like that, that sort of ups the ante for all the investigating agencies." The sheriff's office arrested Holden Smith, 21, of Eugene, Ore.; Eric Ellis, 25, of Eugene, Ore.; and Travis Weller, 21, of Springfield, Ore. Since the March 26 robbery at the Siuslaw Valley Bank in Pleasant Hill, detectives from the Lane County Sheriff’s Office and Special Agents of the Eugene office of the FBI aggressively investigated the incident. Investigators suspected the three men in that robbery and an earlier robbery at the same location. A court issued warrants for the arrest of Smith and Ellis earlier this week and for Weller on Thursday. FBI Special Agent Chris Lau located a vehicle associated with one of the suspects at The Timbers motel in downtown Eugene. FBI and Sheriff’s Office personnel were assisted by Eugene and Springfield Police at the motel and all three men were taken into custody without incident. In the March 26 robbery, three masked robbers with a handgun robbed a bank and fled the scene in a red hatchback with the tell-tale plate. Three suspects in ski masks and hooded sweatshirts entered the Siuslaw Valley Bank five minutes after 4 p.m. Thursday. One flashed a handgun, and the three made off with an undisclosed haul, fleeing the scene in the red hatchback. It was the second time the bank has been robbed in a month, according to the Lane County Sheriff's Office. |
Upload directly from your mobile device. Learn howYouNews
This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled.
Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.
Stay Connected |
Connect with KVALViewer PollMost Popular
|
KVAL, 4575 Blanton Road,