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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us September 24, 2005 A helicopter aids in the search for a suspect in the US Bank robbery near Oak Street and Eagle Mill Road. Photos by Orville Hector | Ashland Daily Tidings US Bank robbed again Police apprehend suspect after Oak Street bridge closure thwarts getaway By Jennifer Squires Ashland Daily Tidings Esmedina A PATTERN Friday • US Bank, Ashland Sept. 12 • PremiereWest Bank, Medford Sept. 8 • US Bank, Medford • Key Bank, Medford Sept. 7 • Washington Mutual, Gold Hill Police arrested a suspect in the hold-up of an Ashland bank on Friday afternoon after a car chase and a 90-minute foot search. James A. Esmedina, 42, allegedly walked into the US Bank, 30 N. Second St., brandished a dark-colored handgun and demanded cash just after 2 p.m., according to Jim Alderman, the Ashland Police Department detective sergeant. A bank employee followed the robber when he ran outside to the parking lot adjacent to the bank and sped away in a 1987 navy blue Jeep Cherokee with California plates. “One of the bank employees saw him get into the Jeep and gave out the description,” Alderman said. APD officer Scott Schuster heard the details, spotted the vehicle and followed the suspect down Oak Street, which is closed where it crosses Bear Creek for bridge construction. The robber tried to slow before the barricaded bridge — leaving 120-foot-long skid marks on Oak Street — but ran off the left side of the road and plowed into a thicket of blackberry bushes. Medford detective Bill Ford , left, looks on as K-9 handler D.J. Graham and his dog, Tiko, follow behind Medford officer Ben Lytle. The dog eventually located the suspect near the Oak Street bridge. The suspect had jumped out of the vehicle and fled before Schuster and APD officer Rick Spence found the wrecked Jeep. Within minutes, officers from Ashland, Talent and Medford had closed Oak Street uphill from the bridge and shut down the Bear Creek Greenway to set-up a perimeter. “We blocked it off all the way to Valley View [Road],” said APD officer Teri DeSilva, who was on foot looking for the suspect after she cordoned off the crime scene at the bank. The Jackson County Sheriff’s Department brought in a helicopter to aid with the search and Oregon State Police troopers circled the area in a small plane. The Ashland Dog Park was emptied at 3:02 p.m. and, at one point, officers on foot pursued the wrong man. At 3:15 p.m. Medford patrol officer and dog handler D.J. Graham arrived with Tiko, a 6-year-old German shepherd. Five minutes later, all officers on foot were ordered to stay where they were and, using scents from the Jeep, Tiko started tracking the suspect. Tiko took Graham west down the road that accesses the Ashland water treatment facility. The dog headed off the road, toward a house and Bear Creek. “The dogs are alerting!” MPD detective Bill Ford yelled when Tiko barked. Believing the suspect could be armed, Ford ordered bystanders to back up and stand behind vehicles. Just before 3:30 p.m., it was over. Esmedina had made less than 100 yards progress from the crash site when officers “found him hiding in the bushes,” Alderman said. “[Catching the suspect] does happen,” Alderman said. It’s definitely redeeming.” Esmedina was arrested on a charge of armed robbery and on an Indiana warrant. He has a Bluffton, Ind., address and is a suspect in at least one armed bank heist in his home state. Indiana law enforcement officials believe Esmedina robbed the First Bank of Berne in Berne, Ind., at gunpoint on the morning of Aug. 13. He is also suspected in the Aug. 5 robbery of Lake City Bank in Goshen, Ind. Repeat target The Ashland branch of US Bank has been hit by robbers three times since December 2002, including the August heist that Medford resident Lucien Moon Patchell, 30, was charged with on Aug. 24. In December 2004, Ashland resident Nathaniel Bosworth, then 22, pleaded guilty to a Dec. 24, 2002 robbery. “Everything will be reviewed,” said Joe Danelson, the regional president of US Bank. “We will have an armed guard there beginning on Monday and, of course, when something like this happens we always review our security and if something needs to change.” The security guard will be a temporary measure. The bank also plans to provide a counselor to speak with any of the half-dozen employees who were at the bank during the hold-up. “I’m not sure any customers witnessed it,” Danelson said, explaining “it happened at a teller stand.” Neither Danelson nor law enforcement officials would comment on the amount of money the robber left with or the specifics of the heist. Danelson would not disclose the number of customers in the bank when the robbery occurred. “What I know is there was a robbery and there is a suspect in custody, I understand,” Danelson said. A dozen Southern Oregon and Northern California banks have been hit by robbers this year, and several bars and markets have been held up over the summer. Several were connected to Patchell; police don’t believe Esmedina is responsible for any of the unsolved heists. “It hasn’t been concentrated on US Bank,” Danelson said, although he noted a Medford and a Grants Pass branch of the bank have both been held up. “Hopefully they have the suspect that did in custody and he won’t harm anybody.” Friday’s hold-up is the fifth bank robbery this month. “The Valley’s pretty tired of bank robberies now,” Alderman said. Staff writer Jennifer Squires can be reached at 482-3456 x 3019 or [email protected]. 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