Public asked for tips; merchants urged to stay alert

By Tom Henderson

Gazette-Times reporter

What do you do when an unarmed person comes into your business and demands you hand over all the money in the cash register?

Give it to him, said Lt. Dave Henslee, public information officers for the Corvallis Police Department.

Whether the robber is armed or unarmed, Henslee said, police are going to need an alert witness more than a dead or injured hero.

There have been a string of robberies - armed and unarmed - in Corvallis and the mid-Willamette Valley in the past two weeks.

Locally, an apparently unarmed robber hit Key Bank at 1817 N.W. Ninth St. on Dec. 2. Two days later, another bank robber hit Washington Federal Savings at 1111 N.W. Ninth St. He didn't use a gun either.

Then there was an armed robber Tuesday at Pilos Mexican Bakery at 954 N.W. Circle Blvd.

Pepper's Deli in Lebanon was robbed about 7 p.m. Nov. 30. The suspect was described as a male, 5 feet 11 inches tall with a thin build and a pointed nose. He was wearing jeans, a dark blue or black hooded sweatshirt, a baseball cap and athletic shoes.

Robbers also have struck in Salem and the Eugene area.

Henslee said many business managers tell their employees not to worry about the presence of a gun and to just comply with any of the robber's demands. "I support that policy," he said. "Otherwise, someone could end up getting hurt."

Surveillance cameras are a business' best defense against robbers, Henslee said. When a robber enters a business, he added, the best thing employees can do is try to remember as many details as possible - from the appearance of the crook to what he is wearing and the sound of his voice.

"It's important that people are vigilant observers," he said.

This string of robberies is mystifying, Henslee said. All the incidents are unrelated, but there appears to be a rash of them. "I haven't seen this many robberies in Corvallis in this short of a time," he said. Because all the robbery suspects remain at large, he asked that the public keep an eye out and call in tips.

The armed robber who hit the bakery Tuesday is described as 25 to 30 years old and 5 feet 7 inches tall with a medium build. He was wearing a white, long-sleeved hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans and a blue and white cloth over his face. He was last seen leaving the bakery around 7:30 p.m.

The Dec. 4 bank robbery at Washington Federal Savings happened at 3:30 p.m. After leaving the bank, the bank robber got on a bicycle and headed southeast with an undisclosed amount of money. He is described as a white man in his 50s with a large nose, between 5 feet 6 inches and 5 foot 7 inches tall with a medium build.

Henslee said the suspect was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt with pink lettering across the chest, blue jeans, black ski gloves and a fanny pack. He was also wearing aviator-style sunglasses tinted orange.

The suspect in the Key Bank heist shortly before 5 p.m. Dec. 2 was described as a white woman 5 feet 4 inches to 5 feet 6 inches tall with a medium-to-heavy build. She fled the scene on foot, wearing a dark cap with a light bill and dark blue zip-up coat with a red undershirt.

Anyone with information about the robberies can call the Corvallis Police Department at 766-6924.