Bend, Ore. – A 72 year old La Pine man is reportedly out of jail but will return “at a later date” after attempting to rob the Wells Fargo Bank on Northeast Third street in Bend Friday afternoon. Thomas Henderson walked into the bank and demanded money after showing what looked like several explosive devices. He later surrendered but authorities shut down the area until an Oregon State bomb squad arrived from Salem. A robotic device entered the bank and determined the devices were fake.
Henderson was arrested by the Bend Police Department for Robbery 1st degree, Kidnapping 1st degree, Coercion, and Possession of a Hoax Destructive Device. He was held on a $220,000 dollars bail in the Deschutes County Adult Jail.
“Due to outside circumstances, a conditional release was granted by Deschutes County Circuit Court Judge Bagley,” Sgt. Michael Molan stated in a news release. “As part of the conditional release, Henderson will be returned to the custody of the Deschutes County Adult Jail at a later date.”
The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office will provide more information as it is available
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Updated 12/18/15 5:20pm: OSP has cleared the scene. More info as it becomes available.
2:10pm Here’s the latest from Sgt. Dan Ritchie from the Bend Police Dept:
“Bend Police are investigating a bank robbery. The suspect entered (Wells Fargo Bank on Northeast 3rd Street) with some suspicious devices. We have him in custody. Nobody was hurt. Everybody is safe.”
“We do have the area blocked off on Third Street from Hawthorne to Greenwood and we are going to treat these devices as explosive devices, so we’re going to have this area closed for a while. In the meantime the Hawthorne Station is closed. The local connecting buses for the Bend area will be at 2nd and Franklin. Any buses leaving town will be caught in front of Ace Hardware.”
Ritchie says a bomb squad is en-route from Salem to search inside the bank as a precaution. No time frame has been established when those area roads will re-open.
1:18pm – Our partners at Newschannel 21 report a man reportedly used two sticks of dynamite to hold up the Wells Fargo Bank on Bend’s Northeast Third Street Friday afternoon and surrendered about a half-hour late, though the possible dynamite was left inside and the Oregon State Police Bomb Squad called in.
The first alarm came at 12:14 p.m. from someone who had been in the bank and reported a white male, approximately in his 60s or 70s, had placed one stick of dynamite on a counter and another possibly taped to him, but later reported to be on the floor.
Other bank workers and customers were evacuated and sent to a nearby command post to be interviewed about what had taken place. Police brought in an armored vehicle and robotic device as two negotiators worked to talk to the man and/or employee.
1pm – MAN REPORTEDLY WITH DYNAMITE ROBS BEND BANK: A man reportedly used at least two sticks of dynamite to hold up the Wells Fargo Bank on Bend’s Northeast Third Street Friday afternoon and was still inside the bank with one teller as police swarmed the area, initial reports indicated.
12:40pm – Bend Police and Oregon State Police are currently on scene at a business at the intersection of 3rd St and Hawthorne Ave. Bend High School and Marshall High School are currently in LOCK OUT status. 3rd St and 4th St are both shut down in the area of the business. Please avoid the area. More information will be released as the incident progresses.
