Repentant Robber Gets Evaluation

A 55-year-old repentant bank robber will get a psychological evaluation before he is sentenced, a federal judge decided Wednesday.

Douglas Bruce Ostberg turned himself in Saturday morning, saying he robbed a Spokane bank on Valentine’s Day. He is being held in the Spokane County Jail.

FBI agents and Spokane police won’t say why Ostberg robbed the bank. Ostberg and his family refuse to talk to reporters.

Ostberg, who lives in a tidy, 1908 house at 1201 N. Hollis, has no criminal record. His name does not show up on federal bankruptcy records. It is not clear whether he has a job.

A woman who answered the door at Ostberg’s home earlier this week said she didn’t know about the robbery until Saturday.

“We’re all real shocked by this,” she said.

Ostberg, his court-appointed attorney and a federal prosecutor agreed Wednesday to the evaluation. Gray-haired and balding, Ostberg signaled the news to friends and family in the courtroom with a rotating motion of his right index finger around his right ear.

Court documents contend Ostberg walked into the U.S. Bank at 900 W. Garland on Feb. 14 and gave a teller a note saying he was robbing the bank. He showed her a revolver.

Ostberg walked out with $656, the documents said.

FBI agent Kevin Burnett wrote in the court statement that Ostberg told investigators how much money was taken, what type of gun was used and other details about the crime that only the robber would know.