If the suspect was trying to kill himself, it didn’t work. See who police say terrorized a woman at gunpoint before he went the run …
Police cordon off the SE Boise Street, between SE 103rd and 104th Avenue, looking for an armed robbery suspect.
Story and photos by David F. Ashton
A Lents Neighborhood resident – who said she was so traumatized she didn’t want to be photographed or have other than her first name, “Jamie”, used – endured a home-invasion-style robbery on the afternoon of July 9.
The alleged gun-waving robber almost didn’t survive, having chugged gasoline, cleaning fluids, and other toxic liquids, before being arrested.
An armored Portland Police Bureau SERT truck rolls up to the scene, and turns west of SE Boise street, getting in position to transport officers into the area.
According to Portland Police Bureau (PPB) Public Information Officer Lt. Robert King, the call came in reporting the robbery at 1:06 p.m., sending East Precinct officers to a ranch-style home in the 10200 block of SE Pardee Street, a block south of SE Holgate Boulevard.
The victim said she was sitting in her room when a sunglasses-wearing, tall white male wearing a black sweatshirt charged into the house, the woman named Jamie told police.
A fully equipped and armed SERT member walks into the area.
“I tried to stop him from stealing stuff that was my roommate’s things, and got in his way,” Jamie said. “When he saw I wasn’t going anywhere – he pulled out the gun. Then, I got out of his way.”
“He took off, and ran like hell, and jumped over the fence,” Jamie added. “That’s when I called the cops.”
East Precinct District Officers wait while the SERT truck gets into position.
The suspect hoofed it eight streets west and three blocks north in the afternoon sun, and then took refuge in a shed behind the home of David Hieronymus in the 10300 block of SE Boise Street.
He was napping at the time, Hieronymus told reporters, but his wife saw the man run into their back yard and called police.
It didn’t take long for police to stage officers to establish a perimeter around the home, should the suspect flee. Members of the Portland Police Special Emergency Reaction Team (SERT) squad moved in and arrested the man at 4:27 p.m.
“Officers located the suspect hiding in a garden shed in the backyard of a residence on SE Boise Street,” Lt. King reported
Officers wait while the SERT crew secures the suspect.
This man, 23-year-old Tyler Levi Brant, is accused of 1st Degree Robbery.
Instead of taking the suspect, later identified as 23-year-old Tyler Levi Brant, immediately to jail – he was secured to a gurney and taken to a hospital.
“The suspect consumed an unknown quantity of engine fluids before being arrested,” King stated.
Brant is prepared for medical transport. Image courtesy of KOIN Local 6 News
According to Multnomah County Detention Center records, Brant’s hospital stay was just long enough to have his stomach pumped and medically stabilize him: He was then booked into jail at 11:46 p.m., on charges of Robbery in the First Degree and Burglary in the First Degree, with bail set at $300,000.
© 2012 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News
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