La Pine man arrested in Bend bank ‘hoax explosives’ holdup

A 72-year-old La Pine man walked into a northeast Bend bank Friday, displayed several “explosives” (later found to be hoax devices) and demanded a large sum of money, sparking a tense hostage drama that ended with his surrender 40 minutes later, police said.

But while all workers and customers got out unhurt, the “devices” left in the bank – which he said were dynamite, according to a customer — triggered an afternoon of street closures and evacuation of nearby businesses until an Oregon State Police bomb squad from Salem could arrive and find the items were fake.

Thomas Alden Henderson was arrested, taken to the Deschutes County Jail and booked on charges of first-degree robbery, first-degree kidnapping, possession of hoax destructive device and coercion, said Capt. Paul Kansky.

Jail records showed he was being held on $220,000 bail.

Henderson was conditionally released from jail around 8 p.m. Friday night, as granted by Circuit Judge Beth Bagley, due to “some outside circumstances I can’t go into” due to federal medical privacy and confidentiality rules, said jail Sgt. Michael Molan told NewsChannel 21 Saturday morning.

However, Molan added, “At some point, as part of the conditions of release, he will be returned back to custody” of the jail, at a later date.

It turned out it was not Henderson’s first visit of the day to the bank, located at 844 Northeast Third Street.

Kansky said Henderson also went there earlier Friday and contacted an employee “under the pretense of needing assistance with personal banking,” Kansky said. He then left and returned a short time later, contacting the same staff member and asking more questions about banking.

But then things took a turn for the worse, as he showed the staff member “he was armed with multiple explosive devices,” Kansky said, not confirming that they appeared to be like sticks of dynamite.

Henderson “threatened the bank employee and demanded a large sum of money,” Kansky said.

A silent alarm was activated and most bank employees and customers were able to evacuate. Henderson continued to make demands of the bank worker “and actually placed one of the hoax explosive devices in the employee’s possession.”

Bank customer Tony Voorhies was running a quick errand at the bank during his lunch break when he noted the suspect, who he said was very calm, talking to a bank associate in a cubicle. Minutes later, everyone was evacuated.

“So I didn’t see him get up, other than talk to some people and asked for some Scotch tape,” Voorhies recalled, “and had two cylinder-like objects, and he said they were dynamite. And the other gentleman came up — the employee says ‘We’ve got a situation’ and told us to leave. So we all left, and was told to hit the ground when we came outside by police.”

As police swarmed the area, shutting down Third Street and setting up a command post to interview bank customers and staff, police learned there were still two bank employees upstairs who the suspect was unaware of.

Two negotiators joined officers setting up a perimeter and began talking with Henderson, who at 12:40 p.m. came out and surrendered, hands up and shirtless, and was taken into custody. During his arrest, officers founded a loaded handgun in the waistband of his pants, Kansky said.

Once Henderson was in custody, the three remaining bank workers were evacuated, and the OSP bomb squad was called in. Arriving about 3 p.m., a robotic device was seen moving toward the bank. Kansky said they were able to determine the items in the bank “were hoax devices and not true explosive devices.”

Kansky also said two search warrants were executed, one on Henderson’s La Pine home and the other on his car parked at the bank. More evidence was seized at both locations, he said.

Kansky said more charges may be filed, based on the continuing investigation.

Bend police thanked the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office and 911, OSP, the FBI, Bend Public Works, ODOT and Central Oregon Emergency Response Team for their assistance.

Initial reports indicated the man had placed one stick of dynamite on a counter and another possibly taped to him, but later reported to be on the floor.

The other bank workers and customers were evacuated and sent to a nearby command post to be interviewed about what had taken place. Police brought in an armored vehicle and robotic device.

A witness said the man had been sitting at a cubicle with a bank employee, not at a teller’s window.

It was the second northeast Bend bank robbery in two days; on Wednesday, police said a man robbed the Selco Community Credit Union on NE Bellevue Drive; police found and arrested the man nearby about 40 minutes later.

On Friday, Third Street was closed between Greenwood and Franklin Avenue, with detours in place. Nearby Bend and Marshal high schools were placed in lockout until shortly before 1 p.m.

The OSP Bomb Squad was called in from Salem, arriving around 3 p.m. Soon, a small robotic device was seen rolling toward the bank.

By 4:30 p.m., a car in the bank parking lot and whatever was inside the bank had been checked out and apparently cleared, with the bomb squad moving on and roads in the area beginning to reopen.

Ritchie said around 4:45 p.m. that all road closures and evacuations had been lifted and traffic was returning to normal.

Earlier, he’d told reporters, “At this point, we are unable to confirm if these devices or real or hoax, and will treat them as though they are actual explosive devices,” until the bomb squad arrived to render them safe. He added that the FBI also was involved in the investigation.

Nearby businesses, including Hutch’s Bicycles and Baja Fresh, were evacuated as a precaution through the afternoon, and four city-owned cinder-filled trucks were parked in front of the bank, just in case anything went wrong.

“The suspect reported these were explosive devices, and we’re going to treat them as such,” Ritchie said in the early afternoon. “”We’ve got to take our times with these things. We have to make sure. When you’re dealing with a potentially explosive device, you only have one chance.”

The closure also affected Cascades East Transit, as the Hawthorne Station was closed to buses and passengers.

NewsChannel 21’s Wanda Moore and Pedro Quintana will have more on the day’s dramatic events coming up at 10 on Fox and 11 on NBC.