Bank Robbery Suspect Fires at Pursuing Customer

A river captain-turned politician in Oregon's capitol city chases down a Chase Bank robbery suspect- and its no wild goose chase, it could have been tragic; the gunman actually fired at the pursuing bank customer...

Image of the Chase Bank robbery suspect who used a gun to rob Salem's Downtown branch, only to be pursued by a customer. Photos from the scene and video by Jerry Freeman.

(SALEM, Ore.) - With thousands of trips under his belt as a river guide in southern Oregon, Court Boice isn't unfamiliar with danger, and he has a pretty good track record of being able to think and act quickly.

Boice chased an armed bank robbery suspect - the gunman fired at him.

But Monday he found himself in the center of a bank robbery in Salem. Our news photographer Jerry Freeman caught up with Court Boice at the Downtown Salem Chase Bank, at 630 Center St NE.

"I was just having a couple of transactions in the bank and it must have been around 5:30, there was a little commotion and the teller that was waiting on me just turned white."

This legislative assistant who recently moved to Oregon's capitol city, tried to stop the armed gunman.

"I heard somebody give some orders, directions, and threw down some bags, nylon mesh bags, showed his gun and so everybody backed up and he went out the south door, so I followed him."

Salem Police on the scene of the Downtown Salem bank robbery

Court Boice says it didn't take long for the gunman to realize he was being followed.

"And pretty soon he saw me and we went running and I stayed fifty to a hundred feet back. He tried to get in his car, a couple of blocks down here. i told him, 'give it up'. And so he got out of the car, shut the door, and went around the; I can't recall the name of the cinema, and went clear around the block."

They were near the Cinnabarre Theater when the bank robber fired a round at Boice.

"And so I went around the block there and thought I lost him. And son of a gun, he took a shot at me, and cuss words you might expect, threats, what have you. He took all his stuff off, headgear of whatever, gloves; the officers and I went back and found the casing, just one shot."

But prior to that, Boice says he stayed on the gunman's trail as well as he could.

"Come back clear around the block. This time he gets in his car and I can't stop him. I got close, got his license plate. I have a lot of confidence in the Salem PD, I think they'll find him, I hope they find him. I've got no idea how much he got or anything."

Getaway vehicle could have a similar appearance to these 2000 Ford Explorers.

Important information he could provide however, involved a solid description.

"I'm going to guess around 5'10", maybe in his thirty's, white, bald with short hair on the sides, he's obviously in pretty good shape. I run, I'm 56 and in fairly good shape and I could barely keep up with him. A little bow legged, again I'm going to refer to the fact that he's in decent shape."

"One very nice lady by the name of Tammy helped me with her cell phone; she almost ran over him the second time he got in his SUV; a Ford Explorer, probably about a 2000 I guess."

Boice says the suspect traveled down Marion Street then took a left onto High Street and headed south.

He believes the SUV was charcoal, maybe black. Another witness thought it was dark blue. Boice is fairly sure that the last three numbers on the license plate the 386.

"I think it was XFS386," Boice said. In a press release, Salem Police Lt. Steve Birr reported the plate as STX386. Birr said, "The Oregon plates with that license number have been accounted for this evening."

The Salem Police Department and the FBI are investigating the incident. Anyone with additional information is asked to telephone the Salem Police Department at 503 588-6123

Additional information from Salem Police: The suspect was described as a White male, 45 to 50 years of age, 5'08", stocky build, wearing a black GAP baseball cap, black mask covering his lower face, black jacket, black gloves, and blue jeans. The suspect displayed a handgun and got away with an undisclosed amount of cash. The 'getaway' vehicle was parked along the south side of Marion St., approximately mid-block, alongside Macy's.

Video by Jerry Freeman;Story by Tim King for Salem-News.com