SUSPECT ARRESTED: Manhunt underway for Gateway bank robber

UPDATE: See who officials have charged with bank robbery — and how he was caught! He slipped away after robbing the Bank of America branch, but see where police picked up his trail … and lost it again …

This Gateway area Bank of America Branch, in the Mill Park neighborhood, is robbed by an armed suspect.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton
For some reason, banks in the Mall 205 area seem to be attractive targets for bank robbers. Some are more successful than others in making a getaway, however.

> See our story of June 30, “Gunman succeeds at robbing bank, fails at clean get-away”: CLICK HERE.

This time, it was the Bank of America branch, located at 10201 SE Washington Street, that called in a report of an armed robbery at 3:01 p.m. on September 18.

The sign on the bank’s door shows they’d closed early for the day, after being robbed.

“When officers arrived in the area, bank employees said that the suspect was armed with a handgun and demanded money,” said Portland Police Bureau Public Information Officer Sgt. Pete Simpson.

“After obtaining an undisclosed amount of cash, the suspect left the bank and was last seen on the north side of the bank,” Simpson added. “Several officers searched the neighborhood, but did not locate anyone matching the suspect’s description.”

Many police officers work to track down the robber, but fail to locate the suspect.

The suspect was described as a white male in his early-40s, 5’2″ tall, thin build, scruffy face, close-cropped hair and bald on top, wearing a green T-shirt and tan pants. He reportedly had at least one tattoo “sleeve”. The suspect was armed with a dark colored, revolver-type handgun.

The following day, police caught sight of a man matching the description of the bank robbery suspect in the Powellhurst-Gilbert neighborhood area.

Several officers, including a K9 Unit, tracked the suspect in the area of the Springwater Trail, where again, he eluded officers.

UPDATE:

UPDATE:
On Saturday, September 20, 2014, PPB East Precinct officers spotted and arrested 49-year-old Harvey Ernest Mathnay in connection with this case NE 82nd Avenue and Glisan Street.

“Mathnay was arrested without incident,” Simpson said. “He was turned over to Robbery Division detectives.”

According to Multnomah County Detention Center records (MCDC), Mathnay was booked in at 7:22 a.m. on September 20, on a Federal Marshall’s “Hold” for Bank Robbery. He remains in custody at Multnomah County Inverness Jail.

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