BY MICHAEL BOOTH
| Posted: Saturday, May 31, 2008 12:00 am
GAZETTE-TIMES REPORTER
The man charged with robbing two Corvallis banks left a plea deal on the table.
Jack David Baird, 44, of Waldport, was in court Friday morning after attorneys had hammered out a plea bargain on Thursday regarding charges related to the Dec. 28 robbery of the Washington Mutual Bank at 2055 N.W. Circle Blvd. and the Jan. 10 robbery at Washington Federal Savings Bank at 1111 N.W. Ninth St.
A robber made off with more than $8,500 on Dec. 28 and $1,300 in the Jan. 10 robbery.
Prosecutors would not offer details of the agreement Thursday, and it was moot by Friday because, instead of accepting the deal, Baird changed his mind. He pleaded not guilty to two counts of burglary and two counts of theft.
A jury trial has been scheduled for 9 a.m. on Sept. 22.
Baird has been lodged at the Benton County Jail since his arrest Jan. 17. He is being held on $2 million bail.
Police said that in both robberies, a man handed a bank teller a note demanding money. Witnesses gave similar physical descriptions of the robber and told police that he wore an over-the-ear cell phone headset. That prompted police to dub the robber as "The Bluetooth bandit."
Corvallis police investigators said the robber left behind the note from the Dec. 28 robbery. Experts from the Oregon State Police crime lab identified a right thumbprint on the note, which led to Baird's arrest.