Bullets fly during East Portland bar robbery

Read why many were placed at deadly risk, when a gunman sprayed bullets at this Powellhurst-Gilbert Neighborhood establishment …

A quiet evening at this outer East Portland establishment is shattered – as an armed robber opens fire.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton
It was a fairly quiet evening at Mr. Dealers Double-Up Sports Bar & Café, at 12306 SE Powell Boulevard, on October 3 – that is, until an armed robber strode into the establishment at 9:23 p.m.

A bar employee said the suspect entered the bar and demanded money.

For unknown reasons, the robber then pulled a handgun and fired multiple shots inside the bar, the employee said.

A police officer watches the armed robbery investigation taking place inside Mr. Dealers Double-Up Sports Bar & Café.

“The shots didn’t hit anyone,” said Portland Police Bureau Public Information Officer Sgt. Pete Simpson. “The suspect obtained an undisclosed amount of money then ran out of the bar.”

“We were out having a smoke”, recounted Patti, a patron of the Powell Hurst Tavern, located just east of the café.

“He came running out the front door, ducked around the back of the building, and took off [running east] behind the buildings,” she told East Portland News. “As soon as we heard the shots, and we heard the glass breaking across the street, and we ducked back inside.”

One of the bullets from the robber’s gun smashed through the establishment’s glass front door.

Another stray bullet breaks a hole the front window of this used goods store across the street.

Not only did some of the bullets leave holes in windows at Mr. Dealers Double-Up Sports Bar & Café, one also punched out a sizable hole in a front window of JC’s Money Talk, diagonally across the street.

“Because of the paving work on Powell,” commented a police officer at the scene, “Traffic is quite light. If it were normal traffic, a truck or car would have been struck by a bullet. And, a lot of people walk along here – it’s good no one was hit.”

Inside the establishment, a Portland Police Robbery Detective gathers evidence.

Several officers, including a Portland Police K-9 team, searched the area but did not locate anyone matching the suspect’s description.

“The suspect is described as an unknown-race male, wearing all dark clothing and armed with a handgun,” Simpson informed. “Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact Robbery Detectives at (503) 823-0405.”

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