Car-Burgling Bank Robber Gets 10-Years In Federal Prison

PORTLAND, OR — For stealing a car in Yamhill County, which he then used to flee an armed bank robbery in Beaverton on the same day, Jesse Lee Brockner on Tuesday was sentenced in a Multnomah County court to 10 years in a federal prison.

Brockner, 32, in May 2018 pleaded guilty to armed bank robbery and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. Following the completion of his 10-year sentence, Brockner will undergo another three years of supervised parole.

Brockner's sentence stems from one day of criminal activity in August 2017, which included a car theft, bank robbery, police chase and shootout.

According to Kevin Sonoff, the public affairs officer for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon, Brockner was originally one of three men accused of burglarizing a barn in Yamhill County.

The three men reportedly entered the barn in the 22000-block of Northwest Russell Creek Road around 7 a.m. Aug. 30, with Brockner stealing a turquoise 1987 Chevrolet Blazer and the other two men fleeing in a moving truck.

Yamhill County deputies caught up to the moving truck and arrested Brockner's partners in crime; at the same time, they were able to identify Brockner as the remaining burglary suspect.

In the moving truck deputies found and seized as evidence $4,000, drug paraphernalia, and — perhaps most damning of all — Brockner's driver's license.

Just before 9:30 a.m. the same morning, Washington County Sheriff's deputies were called to the U.S. Bank at 18485 S.W. Farmington Rd. in Aloha — just more than 20 miles away — after Brockner entered the building armed with a handgun and disguised with a welding mask, demanded money, and fled with an undisclosed amount of cash in the turquoise Chevy Blazer.

(Sign up for our free daily newsletters and Breaking News Alerts for the Portland Patch)

Several hours later, around 12:45 p.m., Portland officers spotted the Blazer in the 3900-block of Southeast Powell Boulevard, near Southeast Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard and Southeast Clinton Street in Portland. As officers moved to stop the vehicle, Brockner reportedly took off through the nearby neighborhood streets, turning onto Northeast 55th Avenue from East Burnside Street and crashing into a parked car.

Police immediately converged on Brockner and reportedly issued commands to which he did not respond. Ultimately, at some point during the "high-risk traffic stop," Portland Officer David Staab shot Brockner and took him into custody with non-life-threatening injuries.

Brockner was taken to a Portland area hospital and treated for the gunshot wound before being taken to jail, where he remained until sentencing.

Images from the bank robbery and Brockner's booking photo via Multnomah County District Attorney's Office, Portland Police Bureau