Bank Robber, Who Stashed Guns and Stolen Goods While on the Run from Police, Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison

Defendant Dug Hideout in Greenbelt near Sammamish, Washington Condominiums

A convicted bank robber who absconded from supervised release, and lived on the lam for more than five years, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 12 years in prison, announced U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes.  BRADLEY STEVEN ROBINETT, 46, was arrested in Hillsboro, Oregon, on June 2, 2014, when Hillsboro Police took him into custody in a shopping mall parking lot as he returned to a car that had been reported stolen.  ROBINETT pleaded guilty in January 2015 to escape, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and interstate transportation of a stolen vehicle.  As part of his guilty plea, ROBINETT agreed to tell investigators where he had stashed dozens of stolen firearms and other stolen goods near Portland, Oregon, Sammamish, Washington and in Olympic National Park.  U.S. District Judge James L. Robart imposed three years of supervised release following prison and $12,886 in restitution.

“This defendant left a dangerous wake wherever he went – for the law enforcement officials who tried to apprehend him, and the public who lived near his stashes of weapons and other stolen goods,” said U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes.  “I commend the FBI and ATF agents who continue to use information from this defendant to protect public safety.”

According to the indictment and other court filings, ROBINETT was convicted of bank robbery and in 2004 was sentenced to seven years in prison.  In August 2009 he was released from a federal prison in Arizona and put on a bus to Seattle with the requirement that he was to report to a designated halfway house within 48 hours.  ROBINETT never reported to the halfway house and a warrant was issued for him for escape.  In September 2009, police on Bainbridge Island, Washington attempted to stop a car that led them on a high speed chase.  ROBINETT fled from the car and got away.  Inside the car officers found a Glock 9mm pistol and a ballistic vest.  Both items were stolen from the Seattle Police Department several years earlier.  The vehicle ROBINETT was driving was also reported stolen in Oregon.

Before his Oregon arrest, the last time law enforcement saw ROBINETT was in November of 2009, when Washington State Patrol detectives encountered ROBINETT at a park & ride facility in Bellevue.  At the time, ROBINETT was operating a stolen vehicle. ROBINETT attempted to ram a WSP vehicle before fleeing the area.  The WSP trooper driving the vehicle managed to avoid the collision, but ROBINETT was able to escape.

ROBINETT was indicted for being a felon in possession of a firearm for the gun found in the car on Bainbridge.  In addition to his bank robbery conviction, ROBINETT has prior felony convictions for possession of stolen property (King County and Clallam County), unlawful possession of a machine gun, car theft and burglary (King County).

In 2011, ROBINETT was featured on the programs Washington’s Most Wanted and America’s Most Wanted.

Last June Hillsboro police were patrolling the Fred Meyer parking lot with an automated license plate reader.  Plate readers match license plates to those of stolen cars that have been entered into the system’s database.  The reader noted a Kia with license plates stolen in Portland, while the car’s VIN number linked to a vehicle that had been reported stolen in King County, Washington.  The police officers waited for the driver to return to the vehicle.  They arrested ROBINETT without incident.

The investigation was a joint effort between the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF), the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Washington State Patrol (WSP), the Bainbridge Island Police Department, and the Hillsboro, Oregon Police Department.