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Late yesterday, a community member saw the photo of the bank robber on a local news story and informed deputies that he was staying at a hotel in Forest Grove. Deputies contacted the person at the hotel and arrested him.
On Wednesday, March 22, 2023, at 8:32 p.m., a community member called non-emergency dispatch and reported they saw a news story on the bank robbery and knew the man was staying at America’s Best Value Inn & Suites in Forest Grove. Officers from Forest Grove Police Department and deputies from the Sheriff’s Office and Cornelius Police Department went to the motel and contacted the man, 70-year-old Craig Haberman, outside of his hotel room and arrested him.
Haberman was transported to the Washington County Jail and lodged on two outstanding warrants – one for an unrelated bank robbery.
The investigation of yesterday’s bank robbery in Cornelius is being transferred to the Federal Bureau of Investigations.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office and Cornelius Police Department would like to thank the community for their help in locating Haberman.
Deputies Ask for the Community's Help in Locating Bank Robber
This afternoon, deputies responded to a bank robbery and are now asking for the public’s help locating the bank robber who was recorded on surveillance cameras.
On Wednesday, March 22, 2023, at 12:09 p.m., Washington County Sheriff’s Office deputies serving the City of Cornelius responded to a bank robbery at the US Bank located at 1735 N Adair Street.
After deputies arrived, they learned a man had presented a bank teller with a note demanding money, and the man left the bank with an undisclosed amount of cash.
Deputies and Hillsboro Police Officers searched the area for the man but did not find him.
The man who robbed the bank is described as a white male, approximately 70 years old, with white hair and a white beard, about 5’ 10”, and 180 pounds.
Deputies ask community members to contact Washington County Consolidated Communications Agency non-emergency dispatch at (503) 629-0111 if they know the man’s location or have any additional information about him or the bank robbery.
Members of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office Crash Analysis Reconstruction Team (CART) arrest the driver of a vehicle that struck and killed a pedestrian.
On Friday, March 17, 2023, at 3:48 a.m., Washington County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a crash involving a pedestrian and a vehicle. When deputies arrived, they learned a person was crossing Tualatin Valley Highway in a crosswalk near SW 178th Avenue when a white 2001 Volvo S60 struck the person and then crashed into a power pole. The pedestrian was killed in the crash.
The driver, 32-year-old Emanuel Starr, was transported to a local hospital with minor injuries and was released a few hours later.
The Sheriff’s Office Crash Analysis Reconstruction Team (CART) responded to the scene to investigate the crash. Through CART’s investigation, investigators believe Starr was impaired and driving at a high rate of speed when the crash happened.
This afternoon, investigators on CART arrested Starr for several charges related to the crash, including manslaughter in the second degree, driving under the influence of intoxicants, and reckless driving. Starr was lodged in the Washington County Jail.
The pedestrian’s name is not being released now.
Tualatin Valley Highway was closed for several hours so CART members could investigate the crash and Portland General Electric could repair their damaged equipment.
Members of the Westside Interagency Narcotics team recovered 150,000 fentanyl pills and 3 kilograms of powder fentanyl.
On Wednesday, February 22, 2023, Washington County Sheriff’s Office Westside Interagency Narcotics (WIN) Team members received information from Alameda County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Task Force (ACNTF) that a car heading for the Portland Metro area was likely trafficking bulk fentanyl.
WIN located the vehicle at a residence and drafted a search warrant. The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office reviewed a search warrant for the residence that was ultimately granted. The WIN team serviced the search warrant and recovered 150,000 fentanyl pills and three kilograms of powder fentanyl with the assistance of Washington County Sheriff's Office K9 Mando. The estimated street value of the narcotics is $575,000.
The Westside Interagency Narcotics ("WIN") Team is an inter-agency task force comprised of personnel from the Beaverton and Hillsboro Police Departments, Washington County Sheriff's Office, Oregon National Guard Counter-Drug Program, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
As highlighted in the Washington County Sheriff's Office's “One Pill Can Kill” campaign, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office would like to highlight the dangers of fentanyl. A tiny amount of the synthetic opioid in your system can be deadly. Fentanyl is roughly 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Laboratory has found that of the fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills analyzed in 2022, six out of ten now contain a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl.
On Friday, March 10, 2023, at 00:29 a.m., a Washington County Sheriff’s Office deputy observed a white 2003 Honda Pilot on Highway 47 southbound, entering the city of Gaston at 118mph in a 30mph zone. The deputy attempted to catch up with the vehicle as it entered Yamhill County at now 122mph. The deputy lost sight of the vehicle, and they notified Yamhill County dispatch to inform them of the reckless driver.
A Yamhill County Sheriff’s Office deputy located the vehicle and attempted to stop it. However, the vehicle eluded them and turned north on Highway 47 toward Washington County.
Additional officers from the Forest Grove Police Department and the Oregon State Police responded to assist by placing stop sticks on Highway 47 as it came north towards the city of Forest Grove. The stop sticks were successfully deployed, and the vehicle ran over them at Highway 47 and Anderson Road.
An Oregon State Police Trooper was outside his patrol vehicle on the southbound shoulder removing his stop sticks at Highway 47 and B Street. The suspect vehicle, still traveling at approximately 87mph, crossed the southbound lanes and struck the patrol vehicle head-on.
Deputies arrested the driver, 33-year-old Kevin Flanagan of Gaston, on the following charges:
A female passenger was also in the vehicle and had to be assisted by deputies out of the vehicle due to the crash. Deputies noted while speaking to the passenger that she had been listening to Washington County dispatch using a cell phone scanner app. The passenger stated that she was pregnant and was transported to the hospital by ambulance for evaluation. There are currently no pending charges for the passenger.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the Forest Grove Police Department, the Cornelius Police Department, the Oregon State Police, and the Yamhill County Sheriff’s Office for their assistance.
In November of 1988, 30-year-old Deborah Lee Atrops was reported missing by her husband, Robert Elmer Atrops, then 34 years old. Although still married, the two had separated in June of 1988, and Mr. Atrops was living in the couple's home on SW Conzelmann Road in Sherwood. Mrs. Atrops resided in an apartment in Salem with the couple's adopted daughter, then eight (8) months old.
While her parents were at work, the child was cared for by a babysitter in Newberg. During the evening of November 29, 1988, Mr. Atrops picked their child up from the babysitter while Mrs. Atrops was at a hair appointment in Tigard. She was expected to be at Mr. Atrops' home to pick up her daughter between 7:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Mr. Atrops later told investigators that Mrs. Atrops never arrived at his house. He called Mrs. Atrops' acquaintances and family and asked about her whereabouts. Mr. Atrops later called the Tigard Police Department to make a missing person report when he could not locate Mrs. Atrops.
On the morning of November 30, 1988, the Washington County Sheriff's office took an official missing person report regarding Mrs. Atrops’ disappearance. Mr. Atrops said he still had not heard from Mrs. Atrops, and she never arrived to pick up their daughter. As part of the missing person investigation, Mrs. Atrops' car was entered into law enforcement databases as a vehicle involved in a missing person case.
On December 1, 1988, at about 9 a.m., Beaverton Police responded to a suspicious vehicle complaint at the dead end of SW Murray Rd near SW Scholls Ferry Road in Beaverton. A city public works employee reported a suspicious abandoned car parked at the location with the keys on the driver's seat. The car was described as a 1988 black Honda Accord two-door. Beaverton Officers arrived and observed the car parked with its driver's window down and without license plates. Officers determined the car belonged to Mrs. Atrops. Witnesses observed the vehicle parked there since the early morning on November 30, 1988.
Investigators from the Washington County Sheriff's Office were advised of the discovery and responded to the car's location. Mrs. Atrops' body was found inside the trunk of the car. Based on the positioning of her body, it appeared Mrs. Atrops had been placed in the trunk after her death.
On December 2, 1988, the autopsy revealed that Mrs. Atrops had been physically assaulted and strangled to death. The cause of death was deemed to be a homicide.
Investigators expended a significant amount of time and effort in their investigation; however, the murder of Mrs. Atrops remained unsolved, and eventually, the case turned cold.
In 2020 The Washington County District Attorney's Office secured a grant named "Prosecuting Cold Cases Using DNA," which allowed them to launch their Cold Case Unit. The Cold Case Unit focuses on investigating and prosecuting violent crime cold cases involving identified DNA associated with a possible suspect. The U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance funds the grant.
In May 2021, the Washington County District Attorney's Office Cold Case Unit partnered with the Washington County Sheriff's Office to continue the investigation into the death of Mrs. Atrops.
Over the next year and a half, detectives and investigators reinterviewed multiple witnesses and had forensic evidence reexamined. On Tuesday, February 28, 2023, details of the case were presented to a Washington County grand jury. After hearing all the evidence, the grand jury indicted Mr. Atrops for one count of murder in the second degree.
On the morning of March 2, 2023, a search warrant was served at Mr. Atrops' Newburg home, and he was taken into custody. Mr. Atrops was arrested without incident and lodged in the Washington County Jail. He will be arraigned this afternoon at 2 p.m. at the Washington County Law Enforcement Center located at 215 SW Adams Avenue in Hillsboro.
On January 2, 1983, at 10:38 a.m., Washington County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the 17300 block of SW Rivendell Drive in the Durham neighborhood of then-unincorporated Washington County. 30-year-old Randal “Randy” McEvers called 911, stating his wife, 28-year-old Nancy McEvers née Pepper, had committed suicide. When deputies arrived, they found Nancy with a gunshot wound to the head. EMS transported Nancy to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Randy and Nancy, along with their 1-year-old son, were home alone at the time of the incident. When Randy talked to deputies on the scene, he provided two different versions of events that led up to the shooting, and detectives were called in to investigate further. They were assisted by the Washington County Medical Examiner’s Office, the Oregon State Police Medical Examiner’s Office, and the Oregon State Police Crime Lab.
In 1983, detectives gathered forensic evidence, an autopsy was conducted, and the gun was tested. The evidence pointed out that the shooting was not self-inflicted, and by April 1983, Randy refused to cooperate with the investigators. In August 1983, the original investigators suspended the case due to a lack of other leads, and the case became cold.
In August 2022, detectives assigned to the Violent Crimes Unit, who also handle cold case investigations, re-opened the investigation into the death of Nancy. Over the past several months, they developed multiple new leads on the case.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office Forensic Science Unit re-examined items of evidence. The Oregon State Police Crime Lab reviewed all the evidence from 1983 and concluded that the lab results from 1983, ruling out suicide, were still accurate and conclusive.
Detectives interviewed over 20 additional persons, including detectives, deputies, and firefighters who responded to the scene in 1983. The interviews led to numerous new additional items of evidence.
In January 2023, detectives interviewed Randy, who had been living in the city of Tigard.
After the interview, the case was referred to the Washington County District Attorney’s Office for review.
Before the case could be reviewed, Randy committed suicide on February 8, 2023. The 40-year-old cold case into the death of Nancy McEvers is now closed.
Nancy is survived by her son, two sisters, and mother. Nancy’s family is open to speaking to the media.
Detectives would still like to speak to anyone with information about Randy and Nancy McEvers. Please call the Sheriff’s Office at 503-846-2700 with any information.
Dropbox Link for additional photographs of Nancy McEvers.