Construction hole keeps bank robber from literally running out of road in Tigard

A man who robbed a West Linn bank — and led police on a chase Monday, July 1, into Tigard — has a large construction hole to thank for stopping his vehicle before it went over the edge of the southernmost Hall Boulevard overpass.

West Linn police reported that 55-year-old Eric Provencio of Prineville robbed the West Linn Key Bank about 12:25 p.m. Monday after brandishing a large knife, leaping over the counter and taking money from teller stations.

However, a tracker embedded in the money allowed police to locate him before being captured in Tigard, thanks in part to a large hole in the roadway under construction before he would have run out of roadway.

“Police from several agencies were following him, and he ultimately came into Tigard and crashed his car on Southwest Hall (Boulevard) in the construction area where the new overpass is being built for (Highway) 217. Then, he took off running on foot down onto the highway,” said Kelsey Anderson, a spokesperson for the Tigard Police Department. “We helped arrest him actually on the highway, and thankfully nobody was hurt.”

Anderson estimates that the construction hole he landed in was about 30 feet from where the roadway ends. The roadway then dips down onto the shoulder of Highway 217.

Provencio was charged with first-degree robbery, reckless driving and eluding a police officer. He was already on federal parole for bank robbery.

In March, the Oregon Department of Transportation demolished the Hall Boulevard overpass with plans to replace it with a new one containing wider footings in an effort to make room for the new auxiliary lanes and shoulders on Highway 217 below it.

Without the overpass missing, the only way across the roadway there is via an adjacent temporary pedestrian bridge.