Bend credit union robber gets 2-year prison term
Nearly a year after a northeast Bend credit union holdup and quick Christmas shopping spree that ended in an arrest, a 29-year-old Bend man has been sentenced to two years in federal prison and three years supervised release, police said.
Brett Gillispie-Comstock, who was caught trying to hide his face behind a newly bought Christmas tree, was sentenced last week by U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken in Eugene, according to Bend Police Lt. Jason Maniscalco.
Around 10 a.m. last Dec. 16, police and detectives rushed to the reported holdup of Selco Credit Union at 501 NE Bellevue Drive, across 27 th Street from the Forum Shopping Center. They learned a man had presented a teller with a note demanding money, then ran.
Maniscalco said bank employees gave police a very good description of the man and the direction he fled. Police also used bank photos to quickly identify the suspect as Gillispie-Comstock. He was arrested about 40 minutes after the robbery, trying to hide behind the Christmas tree in the parking lot of Barnes and Noble, police said.
Later, the suspect told FBI agents he’d said he wanted to open an account, then gave the teller a note demanding $5,000 because he and his mother lost $400 gambling and they needed money for rent, Christmas presents and a Christmas tree.
A complaint written by an FBI special agent said Comstock-Gillespie got away with $1,373 in an envelope, then went to a nearby NAPA Auto Parts store, buying a can of spray paint, then to the nearby DiamondTree medical marijuana dispensary, where he bought a beanie hat and a goodie, then to Bend Pet Express to buy some doggy treats, then some food at Jimmy John’s, then bought that tree.
After his arrest, Gillispie-Comstock gave police more than $700 he hid in a boot, then lead them to nearly $500 he’d hidden behind the auto parts store. He was lodged at the Deschutes County Jail on theft, robbery and other charges.
