By Matt Neznanski
Gazette-Times reporter | Posted: Friday, September 26, 2008 12:00 am
A man who robbed two Corvallis banks last winter was sentenced on Friday to 10 years in prison.
At his sentencing, Jack David Baird described a life spiraling out of control before the robberies and remorse for carrying them out.
"I'm probably the world's worst bank robber," he said. "I was sorry when I did it and I'm sorry now."
Baird admitted robbing the Washington Mutual Bank at 2055 N.W. Circle Blvd. on Dec. 28, and the Washington Federal Savings Bank at 1111 N.W. Ninth St. on Jan. 10.
In each robbery, Baird approached a bank teller, handed over a note demanding money and indicated he was armed. He threatened the tellers and told them that he also would hurt other workers and customers. After each heist, he fled on foot. Witnesses described a man wearing a baseball cap and an over-the-ear headset in both robberies.
Circuit Judge Janet Holcomb told Baird regardless of his state of mind during the heists, the tellers he threatened assumed the worst.
"The bank employees working on those days had no idea of your intentions," she said. "That's something that will stay with them forever."
Baird was also ordered to repay the stolen money, which amounted to about $10,000 between the two banks.
In the first robbery, Baird left behind the note he used to demand money, which gave police a fingerprint they matched to Baird. A comparison with fingerprints in a law enforcement database identified Baird, who had been convicted of felonies in Los Angeles in 1989.
He will now be transported to Washington, where he is a suspect in additional bank robberies.