‘Christmas Bandit’ faces felony charges

See how alert officers found the suspect speeding off in the Hazelwood neighborhood, and sending him off to spend the Holidays behind bars, charged with felony crimes …

Portland Police officers get ready to move, on a robbery in the Hazelwood neighborhood of outer East Portland.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton

A person walking along SE Washington Street near 103^rd Avenue was startled when a man, saying that he had a weapon, robbed him at 2:49 p.m. on Christmas Day, December 25.

Portland Police Bureau (PPB) East Precinct officers responded to the area, and located the robbery victim.

“The victim of the robbery provided the emergency call-taker a detailed description of the suspect and the suspect’s last known location,” said PPB Public Information Officer Sergeant Christopher Burley.

Officers connected the victim’s information with an incoming dispatch about a stolen Dodge Durango in the area.

Keeping a sharp lookout, officers spotted a Durango that matched the stolen SUV’s description three blocks away on SE Washington Street, and signaled for the driver to stop.

“The driver did not stop for officers, and fled the scene; officers deployed ‘pursuit intervention techniques’ as the driver drove through Southeast Portland neighborhoods,” Burley reported.

Near the area of SE 96^th Avenue and Division Street, officers spotted and stopped the fleeing SUV, and officers took the suspect into custody.

“The stolen blue Dodge Durango was returned to the registered owner,” Burley said.

As a result of his brief alleged Christmas Day crime spree, 33-year-old Keith R. Morris awaits trial on four Felony charges. MCDC booking photo

At 6:23 p.m. in Christmas evening, 33-year-old Keith R. Morris. Morris was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center charges of Unlawful Use of a Motor Vehicle and two counts of Robbery in the Second Degree.

At his arraignment the following day, Morris learned from the presiding Multnomah County Judge that he’d be facing two Felony Robbery charges, as well as two additional Felony charges related to the stolen vehicle. Morris remains at MCDC in lieu of $510,000 bail.

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