Find out what surprises the police discovered in the car of a driver, suddenly napping in the middle of an outer East Portland side street …
In the Powellhurst-Gilbert neighborhood, police check on a car, the driver of which they find slumped down in the seat.
Story and photos by David F. Ashton
Motorists, northbound on SE 112th Avenue, just south of SE Division Street, were frustrated the morning of August 5, when the driver of Ford sedan slowed, and rolled to a stop a few yards shy of the intersection.
When honking horns and cars passing didn’t rouse the dozing driver; Portland Police Bureau (PPB) East Precinct officers were dispatched to the area at 8:49 a.m. Even the flashing emergency lights and whooping police siren didn’t snap the man out of his stupor.
It was likely dispatched as a police “Welfare Check” because, many times, an overtired driver falls asleep at the wheel, and officers help the person move to safety.
Not so in this case.
Looking through the car, officers find a stash of methamphetamine, heroin, and a loaded gun.
“It was a call involving a driver slumped behind the wheel of a running vehicle,” said PPB Public Information Officer Carlos Ibarra. “It’s not unusual for officers to conduct a ‘box in’ the vehicle under these circumstances, in order to prevent the driver/vehicle from unintentionally driving off and injuring others,” he told East Portland News.
But, checking on the driver and looking into the vehicle, officers discovered why the man had nodded off.
“Officers discovered that the driver fell asleep behind the wheel after using heroin,” Ibarra said. “Officers located a loaded firearm and a large amount of drugs in the vehicle; the driver was ultimately arrested, and the vehicle was towed as evidence.”
Facing numerous felony charges is 36-year-old Jason Lamar Collins. MCDC booking photo
At 2:12 p.m. that afternoon, 36-year-old Jason Lamar Collins was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center (MCDC) on charges including Possession of Methamphetamine, Felony Delivery Quantity of Methamphetamine, Possession of Heroin, Felony Delivery Quantity of Heroin, Felon in Possession of a Firearm, and Driving while Under the Influence of Intoxicants.
At his arraignment in Multnomah County District Court later that day, Collins learned that he’d be tried on those charges, and is currently housed at Inverness Jail in lieu of $162,500 combined bail.
© 2019 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™