INCLUDES POLICE DRAGNET VIDEO | EXCLUSIVE Coverage | Here’s why dozens of Portland Police officers shut down streets near two outer East Portland grade schools on Tuesday. And, learn about a drunk driver who got caught up in that incident …
Portland Police Bureau officers begin to flood the streets in the Powellhurst-Gilbert neighborhood, tracking a suspected armed robber into these residential blocks.
Story and photos by David F. Ashton
Other than rain showers occasionally dampening areas of the Powellhurst-Gilbert neighborhood on Tuesday, November 5, it was an ordinary afternoon.
That all changed when, at about 1:30 p.m., a bandit “armed with a gun, stole an item from a person at a TriMet bus stop”, as a Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office Transit Police Division representative put it.
Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office Transit Police Division deputies and vehicle, in the lot of the Plaid Pantry market on SE 122nd Avenue and Holgate Boulevard, in the investigation of an armed robbery.
Specifically, the bus stop where this armed robbery took place was near the Plaid Pantry store on SE 122nd Avenue and Holgate Boulevard.
Watch, as more and more police officers move into the neighborhood to pin down the armed robbery suspect:
Portland Police Bureau (PPB) East Precinct officers were dispatched to this “TriMet Incident with Weapon” at 1:43 p.m. Upon their arrival, officers learned that the robbery victim wasn’t injured – and they got a good description of the suspect.
Officers quickly located that suspect – who ran into the neighborhood in an effort to elude police, east on SE Holgate Boulevard. He was soon spotted near 128th Avenue and Steele Street. It was to that location that police dispatchers first sent 19 officers at about 2:00 p.m.
Then, the staging area was soon moved again – south to SE 128th Avenue and Harold Street; so 47 officers were directed to that area.
PPB officers with the “OSCAR Unit” remotely fly their drones; one drone is here parked on its landing target. Operators carefully maneuver this drone through overhead wires.
Also overhead, the PPB airborne Observation Unit called “Air 2” crisscrosses the sky over the dragnet area.
At that location, the PPB’s “OSCAR Unit” – the police drone squad – was set up and flying three unmanned aircraft, while “Air 2” – the Portland Police’s “Eye-in-the-Sky” aircraft – flew lazy circles high above.
“Officers believe they have contained the suspect inside of a perimeter,” a PPB spokesperson reported. Cordoned off was the area from SE 124th Avenue to 128th Avenue, and from SE Harold Street to Reedway Street.
Two blocks south of the staging area, near SE Ellis Street, officers evacuate residents of a house near where the suspect is holed-up.
At least one home was evacuated 12700 block of SE Reedway Street. Also, some students from nearby Alice Ott Middle School at 12500 SE Ramona Street, who live within the perimeter, were cared for at the school, which was put on lockdown.
PPB Special Emergency Reaction Team (SERT) officers arrive and “suit up” for duty.
-7 A half-dozen PPB K-9 Teams, like this one, are called into the area to potentially track, or control, the suspected armed robber.
The PPB’s Special Emergency Reaction Team (SERT) and the Crisis Negotiation Team (CNT) were activated at 3:51 p.m., bringing the total up to 51 officers at the incident – including six PPB K-9 police dog teams.
And, about 4:35 p.m., a PPB SERT armored vehicle rolled into the area from SE Foster Road, turning north on SE 128th Avenue.
-8 Looking east on SE Reedway Street, to where it comes into 128th Avenue, officers stand guard – in case the armed robber bolts in their direction.
Throughout the late afternoon and evening, a CNT officer could be heard, from blocks away, using a PA system, to advise the suspect that he was surrounded and encouraging him to give up.
At 8:32 p.m. the Portland Police official told reporters, “The suspect in this investigation has been located and taken into custody by members of SERT; the suspect was arrested in the 12600 block of SE Ellis Street.
“The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office Transit Police Division is investigating the robbery, and will release additional information about that crime, when appropriate,” is how the PPB spokesperson handed off the incident. “When the suspect is booked into the Multnomah County jail, the identity of the suspect can be released.”
-9 On SE 128th Avenue, SERT officers attention is focused west along SE Ellis Street.
At 8:50 p.m. Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) spokesperson confirmed this information in a news release, echoing the one provided by the PPB earlier in the afternoon.
So far, the MCSO has revealed nothing further about the criminal investigation, or the name of the suspect arrested.
East Portland News will update this story as information becomes available.
November 5
Intoxicated driver wanders into armed robbery dragnet area
-10 A reportedly intoxicated driver, likely trying to make his way home, soon finds his vehicle surrounded by police vehicles, with emergency lights flashing.
Meantime, there was an additional odd event associated with this story. During the tense situation in which dozens of tactical officers were working to encourage a holed-up armed robber to surrender, around 8:00 p.m., a vehicle came up to the intersection of SE 128th Avenue at Harold Street – and caught the attention of officers.
Due to that driver’s behavior, five officers responded to the vehicle at 8:18 p.m. on what turned out to be a “Driving Under the Influence” incident.
“It looks like it was an unfortunate coincidence for that driver,” Public Information Officer Sergeant Kevin Allen told East Portland News: 57-year-old Brent J. Stein, of Portland was arrested for DUII (Alcohol), and booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center (MCDC) at 10:43 p.m. on that Class A Misdemeanor charge.
After his arraignment the next morning, November 6, Stein was then released from custody pending his trial. Release Reason: Pretrial Release Services.
© 2024 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™