Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
Acting on a tip from a Wells Fargo customer, Sweet Home police apprehended two men who had allegedly robbed the bank.
Arrested were Darren Fay Jacobsen, 39, of Toledo and Kevin Scott Napolitano, 44, of Albany. Both were initially charged with second-degree robbery and first-degree aggravated theft and lodged at Linn County Jail.
On Dec. 26, at approximately 11:34 a.m., according to Sweet Home police, a white male adult entered the Sweet Home branch of Wells Fargo Bank at the intersection of 15th and Main streets and demanded money from a teller.
The suspect, later identified as Jacobsen, allegedly told the teller he had a gun and several times threatened to shoot her, Chief Bob Burford said. He had his hand inside his jacket suggesting that he was holding a gun. He fled with approximately $14,000.
A witness, Robert Shamek of Sweet Home, watching from the drive-up window, saw the suspect enter and then leave the bank, Burford said. He saw the witness get into the passenger side of a silver, four-door vehicle and leave westbound at a high rate of speed.
Shamek followed the suspect vehicle a short distance to obtain the license plate number and then returned to the bank, Public Information Officer Penny Leland said. He returned to the bank and gave the information to the bank official who was talking to police dispatch.
While one officer went to the bank, another headed west on Highway 20 and locating the suspect vehicle east of Lebanon near Sodaville Drive at about 11:50 a.m., Leland said. A Linn County deputy reached the suspect vehicle and the Sweet Home officer at the same time.
Lebanon Police Department joined Sweet Home and Linn County to make a high-risk stop on the vehicle on Highway 20 near Crowfoot Road, Leland said. The suspects were taken into custody and transported back to Sweet Home Police Department.
The vehicle was towed to the department to be searched, Leland said. Police believe that all of the money taken during the robbery was recovered from the vehicle.
Burford credited Shamek for “being a good witness, paying attention and getting the plate number,” for leading to the capture the robbery suspects.
Police found no weapons on either suspect or in the vehicle, Burford said.
The bank remained closed during the investigation, and the FBI was notified.