A serial bank robber who struck the same Vancouver credit union branch twice in 2014 was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison. The sentence will run concurrently, however, with the man’s eight-year prison sentence in Oregon.
Dmitriy Gernega, 22, address unknown, previously pleaded guilty in Clark County Superior Court to two counts of first-degree robbery in connection with the April 2014 incidents.
Gernega is currently serving a 100-month prison sentence in Oregon for robbing financial institutions. He was sentenced in May in Multnomah County Circuit Court, Clark County Deputy Prosecutor James Smith said.
According to a probable cause affidavit filed in Superior Court, an employee at Cascade Federal Credit Union, 1706 D St., called 911 on April 9, 2014, to report being robbed at gunpoint. Employees told Vancouver police detectives that they were robbed by the same man who had come to the bank’s entrance and looked inside on March 25, 2014. The employees had previously reported that suspicious incident, the affidavit said.
The man reportedly wore similar clothing on both occasions: all black clothes, gloves and a dark bandana over his face.
Employees said he was armed with a black semi-automatic pistol. The robber ran to a Ford Explorer parked around the corner and sped away, court records said.
On April 15, 2014, an employee called 911 again to report another robbery involving a firearm. Employees told detectives it was the same man who had robbed the credit union the week prior, and described the same circumstances, the affidavit said.
Detectives collected surveillance footage of the robbery, which showed the suspect. The next day, a Portland Police Bureau detective shared bank robbery footage from a Portland serial robber the FBI dubbed “Jabba the Robber,” according to court documents.
On July 18, 2014, Vancouver police were informed that Gresham, Ore., police had arrested the suspect, identified as Gernega. They also located a Ford Explorer at his residence matching the description given by employees at the Vancouver credit union, court records said. Additionally, police located clothing matching the robbery suspect’s in Gernega’s home, the affidavit said.
A credit union employee in March identified Gernega as the robber after looking at a photo lineup, according to court documents.
During his hearing, Gernega’s defense attorney, Ed Dunkerly, said police never recovered a firearm in the Vancouver credit union robberies. He added that the evidence pointed to the use of a pellet gun and not a real firearm.
Two credit union employees wrote statements to the court, describing the terror they felt during the robberies and how selfish Gernega is.
Judge Daniel Stahnke followed the attorneys’ previously agreed-upon recommendation of 120 months. Restitution will be set at a later date.
