Portland residents can breathe a bit easier after a tense weekend marred by a string of armed bank robberies ended with an arrest, the Portland Police Bureau reported, in a dramatic culmination of events that had both officers and the community on edge, the robbery spree began with an incident on Friday and continued with two more heists on Saturday, officials confirmed.
The initial robbery occurred at a credit union on Northeast 15th Avenue where the robber, wielding a knife, evaded immediate capture, setting off concerns among local patrons and employees alike; despite the lack of immediate success, the North Precinct officers mounted a rigorous search effort alongside a detective from the Major Crimes Unit, the robbing spree picked up again the next day at the same credit union, only this time with the perpetrator brandishing a machete, according to the Portland Police Bureau.
In their pursuit, the police responded midday to a different credit union, located on Southeast 10th Avenue, after another robbery report came in, with the rope seemingly unifying in the physical description of the suspect involved, the Portland Police's coordinated efforts from both North and Central Precincts, the search seemed to tighten around the elusive criminal.
Success arrived when officers located a man on Southeast 39th Avenue and Southeast Belmont Street who matched the suspect's description, and they detained him; the quick identification by a detective from the Major Crimes Unit confirmed the suspect to be Lance G. Fluker, a 60-year-old Portland resident with a history of robbery charges, this same suspect had been involved in a previous robbery on October 19th as per the police statement.
Thankfully, no injuries were reported in any of the robberies, and the swift police action resulted in Fluker's arrest on an outstanding warrant for parole violation related to robbery in the first degree, the United States Attorney’s Office along with the FBI are working on additional charges tied to the recent bank heists, the Portland Police Bureau stated; for anyone with more information on Fluker or the incidents in question, Detective Brett Hawkinson can be directly contacted through email, or the FBI may also be reached at their hotline.
