Police arrest suspect six hours after Salem bank robbed
A man recently released from state prison last fall after serving a sentence for a robbery has been accused of robbing a northeast Salem bank on Friday, Aug. 9.
The Salem Police Department said in a press release that Bernardino Muiz, 63, is being held in the Marion County Jail for first-degree robbery.
His arrest came less than six hours after a man threatened a teller at the Washington Federal Bank at 2955 Broadway St. N.E., next to Fred Meyer.
Shortly before 4 p.m., the robber demanded money “while displaying what appeared to be a handgun. The teller complied after which the man fled the scene in a vehicle,” according to the police statement issued Sunday, Aug. 11.
Police said they “quickly” identified Muniz as the suspect but didn’t elaborate. The agency deployed its SWAT team, arresting Muniz outside his home in the Salem Mobile Home Park, 2600 Front St. N.E. The home is about a half-mile from the robbed bank.
Marion County Circuit Court records show that Muniz pleaded guilty to second-degree robbery in 2018 for earlier holding up a convenience store market.
“To get the money, I pretended to have a gun,” Muniz said in his plea petition.
He was sentenced to 70 months in state prison. Muniz was released last October, according to the Oregon Department of Corrections.
Court records show he has been convicted of other robberies dating back to 1988. He has served state prison sentences from June 1988 to June 1994, May 1995 to March 1999 and July 2000 to March 2016.
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Les Zaitz is editor and CEO of Salem Reporter. He co-founded the news organization in 2018. He has been a journalist in Oregon for nearly 50 years in both daily and community newspapers and digital news services. He is nationally recognized for his commitment to local journalism. He also is editor and publisher of the Malheur Enterprise in Vale, Oregon.
