Two Arrested For Armed Bank Robbery In Depoe Bay

A late-morning bank robbery at Columbia Bank in Depoe Bay on Thursday triggered a multi-agency response and a swift manhunt that ended with two suspects from the Portland area in custody and more than $50,000 recovered in Nye Beach in Newport. According to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were dispatched at approximately 11:48 a.m. on Thursday January 29th to a robbery at Columbia Bank after callers reported that two armed men wearing face coverings entered the bank, pointed guns at staff and demanded access to the vault. Bank officials reported the men fled with more than $50,000 in cash, heading south on Highway 101 in a red sedan that displayed no license plates.

Investigators say the red sedan was later found abandoned in a vacant lot near NE Stanley and E. Collins Street in Depoe Bay and had been intentionally set on fire. A nearby resident reported seeing the suspects leave the scene in a gray four-door Toyota. Additional law enforcement agencies responded to search for the Toyota. The search widened south to Newport, where at about 12:51 p.m. officers with the Newport Police Department spotted a gray Toyota Camry, matching the suspect vehicle near Don and Annn Davis Park. Witnesses told police two men exited the car and fled on foot.

During a coordinated search, officers located one man matching a suspect description near the intersection of Highway 101 and Highway 20 and detained him. A short time later, a second man was found and detained near Nye Beach. A canvas of the area uncovered clothing in a public trash can consistent with what the robbers were seen wearing. Newport Police Officer Magnum and K9 Sly were used to search the area of Don and Ann Davis park and its related trails up to Nye Beach. They locating a large backpack matching the one used in the robbery.

Authorities obtained search warrants for the Camry and the backpack. Inside, investigators say they found more than $50,000 in cash and two firearms. Police identified the suspects as Franco Armando Mereno Jr., 37, of Portland, and Jonathon F. Schwentner, 43, of Canby. Both were booked into the Lincoln County Jail on charges of Robbery in the First Degree, Kidnapping in the Second Degree and Aggravated Theft. The case remains under investigation by the Lincoln County Major Crime Team. Assisting agencies included the Oregon State Police, Lincoln City Police Department and Toledo Police Department.