A 39-time convicted felon racked up half a dozen more felony convictions Tuesday for dragging a Southeast Portland BottleDrop employee by the hair to a back office and then making off with a safe containing thousands of dollars in coins.

Gerald Thomas Greenwood Jr., 47, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his latest crimes. His prison term also includes time for robbing a BottleDrop in Gresham and driving away with a safe full of more than $45,000 -- that time without assaulting the employee on duty.

Greenwood and two accomplices wore masks during both robberies at the can and bottle redemption centers: the first at the 12403 N.E. Glisan St. location in Portland on May 2, 2018, and the second at the 1313 Powell Blvd. location in Gresham on Oct. 12, 2018.

The three wore masks and used their strength rather than guns or knives to threaten the employees, said Deputy District Attorney Shawn Overstreet. He said the first robbery has “devastated” the victim in that case.

“After she’d been drug by her hair and slammed to the ground where she hit her knee, she thought she was going to be killed,” Overstreet said. “... Understandably this had a lasting effect on her.”

Overstreet said the woman hasn’t been able to go back to work at BottleDrop or work anywhere else. “She is having a hard time leaving her house,” he said.

Greenwood is the only one of the robbers who has been arrested and prosecuted, Overstreet said.

Police linked Greenwood to the first robbery after the safe he stole came tumbling out of his car trunk on a freeway off-ramp on the day of the heist. Investigators said Greenwood drove off, leaving behind coins scattered across the pavement. Court papers detailing an unrelated traffic citation that he’d received also fell from his car, according to investigators.

Video surveillance of the robberies also helped police connect Greenwood to the crimes because of his large stature. Jail records list him at 6-feet-4-inches tall and 285 pounds. One of his pinky fingers curls inward in a unique way and he was wearing a distinctive watch, Overstreet said.

The prosecutor said Greenwood was wearing that watch when he was pulled over for a traffic stop on Dec. 21, 2018. Greenwood ran and ditched a handgun that a police dog later found, investigators said. Police caught up to Greenwood and arrested him.

Greenwood pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a gun, second-degree kidnapping, third-degree assault, first-degree burglary and two counts of second-degree robbery.

Greenwood declined to make a statement during his sentencing hearing in Multnomah County Circuit Court.

“Mr. Greenwood has from the outset taken responsibility for mistakes that he made and he just wants to put this chapter of his life behind him as quickly as possible,” defense attorney David Peters said.

As part of a plea agreement, the prosecutor said the state won’t pursue criminal charges in six other cases in which Greenwood is suspected of burglarizing or robbing businesses with a fake gun or stealing ATMs. Greenwood, however, is required to pay restitution to victims of those crimes, Overstreet said.

Greenwood’s criminal history started when he was 20 and includes convictions for robbery, unauthorized use of motor vehicles, drug possession and delivery of methamphetamine.

In October in a separate case, a 34-year-old man was sentenced in Washington County Circuit Court to five years in prison after burglarizing BottleDrop locations in Beaverton and Tigard, authorities said. Brett McQuiston also targeted locations elsewhere in the state and used at least $30,000 in stolen cash to buy a Hummer and gamble at the Ilani Casino Resort in Ridgefield, investigators said.

-- Aimee Green

agreen@oregonian.com

o_aimee

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