Document text
Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend October 4, 2005 Robbery suspect in custody By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune Authorities looking into unsolved bank robberies in Medford and throughout the West are taking a close look at an Indiana man arrested Sept. 23 in Ashland after an armed bank robbery there. Thanks largely to surveillance camera photographs, Medford police on Monday added two counts of second-degree robbery to 42-year-old James Aaron Esmedina for allegedly robbing the same north Medford bank in 2002 and again early last month, police said. Esmedina already was sitting in the Jackson County Jail Monday facing robbery charges for the US Bank heist that occurred on Sept. 23 and a bank-robbery warrant out of Indiana. "It’s fair to say he’s probably under the microscope for other robberies throughout the West and all the way to Indiana," Medford police Sgt. Tim Doney said Monday. The Medford robberies of the US Bank at 1242 Court St. on Sept. 8 and a similar one in November 2002 sat unsolved despite good descriptions and even a good photograph of the suspect from a bank surveillance camera, Doney said. Advertisement But it wasn’t until Esmedina’s arrest while hiding in a thicket off Oak Street in Ashland that authorities finally put a name to the face they’ve stared at for years. "We had a pretty good picture of him. We just needed to put a name to the picture," Doney said. "The surveillance photographs are what really keyed us into him." Doney declined to reveal whether any other evidence ties Esmedina to the Medford crimes three years apart, but the two Medford cases are strikingly similar. Like the Sept. 23 armed robbery in Ashland, the suspect in both US Bank robberies in Medford wore a hooded sweatshirt when he walked into the branch during business hours and demanded cash from a teller, according to police accounts at the time. In the 2002 US Bank robbery, the suspect showed no weapon. But in last month’s Medford and Ashland robberies, the suspect put a handgun on the counter and demanded money. And in both Medford cases, the suspect sported short, dark hair and wore a baseball cap. During the 2002 robbery investigation by Medford police and the FBI, authorities said they suspected the same man also robbed the Washington Mutual branch in downtown Ashland a week earlier. Medford police Lt. Tim George declined to say whether Esmedina was a suspect in the 2002 Ashland robbery. Ashland police could not be reached for comment Monday night. Esmedina also was the prime suspect in the Aug. 5 robbery of Goshen Lake City Bank branch in the city of Goshen, Ind. The Indiana warrant alleges that Esmedina robbed the main office of the First Bank of Berne on Aug. 13. In that incident, police reported that he allegedly walked into the bank brandishing a black pistol and made off with more than $20,000. Esmedina remained Monday in the Jackson County Jail in lieu of $2.5 million bail. Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker dvd-r Distance Education Computer Security Cheap Website Hosting Discount Hotel Reservations Online Pharmacy Myspace Home Equity Loans Windermere Van Vleet Deep Muscle Stimulator Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Student Loans High End Computers Online Casino News Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Salvia Divinorum Online Casino Fundraisers Advertisement s