The FBI Nails A Portland Bank Robber.

Kevin Louis Goldsby, 32, is suspected of robbing two Portland credit unions.

In both robberies, he handed a note to the teller, saying, “This is a robbery; give me all of the large bills.”

Banks are known to use either a tracking bill, which looks like money but contains a GPS chip in the middle, or a dye pack that can explode outside the bank—rendering the money useless to the robber.

In this case, a tracking device included in money stolen from one of the banks helped the FBI arrest Goldsby.

Goldsby allegedly robbed a credit union, and the teller handed him a stack of $20 bills. In that stack was a tracking device, which led the FBI to Goldsby’s apartment in Northeast Portland.

In 2020 the FBI reported 1788 robberies of banks, credit unions, armored car companies, and savings and loan institutions.

More than half of those robberies had a demand note and no firearm. Only two-hundred and seventeen of the robberies included a gun. In two of the instances, a hostage was taken. In one instance, the suspect was killed on site.

Oregon saw 54 bank robberies in 2020, with more than half of those occurring in Metro Portland.