Long arm of law tracks two suspected gunmen – arrests pair in Utah

Turns out, it wasn’t locals hoods who shot up a residential section in the Hazelwood neighborhood – read all about it, right here …

It was a warm summer afternoon last year when shots rang out at this usually quiet intersection in Hazelwood.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton
It was another fall day in outer East Portland, when two cars slowed, then stopped, near NE 107th Avenue and Oregon Street this – in an established residential part of the Hazelwood neighborhood, on the muggy afternoon of September 21, 2011.

Folks in the area were alarmed when, at about 2:45 p.m., gunshots rang out, and a car sped off – leaving another car shot up, as well as bullet holes in at least one house, on that September afternoon.

The Portland Police Bureau (PPB) was mum about the event at the time, other than to say their gang squad had been called in to investigate the incident, in which no injuries had yet been reported.

But, it’s now been revealed that information developed in that case led to the arrest of two suspects – in Utah! – a little more than a week later, on October 1, 2011 for shooting up the car and house, and robbing two men of their marijuana stash.

“The arrest was made with the assistance of Utah law enforcement officials,” PPB Public Information Officer Sgt. Peter Simpson on February 13, as the cuffed suspected criminals were escorted back to Oregon and booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center (MCDC) that afternoon.

Portland Police Bureau Gang Enforcement Team detectives obtained information that the suspects might be in Utah, Simpson revealed, and officers traveled to Salt Lake City – where they worked with the Taylorsville Police Department, the Utah Highway Patrol, and the U.S. Marshals Service, to locate and arrest the two men.

Detectives accuse these two men – 20-year-old Drew Tama Morrison, and 25-year-old Chester Pedro Archuletta – of multiple class-A felonies in the case. MCDC images

Specifically, when 20-year-old Drew Tama Morrison of Taylorsville, Utah, and 25-year-old Chester Pedro Archuletta of Boise, Idaho, were brought back to Portland, they were charged with two counts of Robbery in the First Degree, two counts of Attempted Murder, and four counts of Attempted Aggravated Murder, Simpson added.

“This investigation shows that gang members, and gang crime, knows no borders,” reflected PPB Asst. Chief Eric Hendricks. “These arrests would not have been possible without the tireless investigation by our detectives, and the cooperation of Utah law enforcement officers.”

Archuletta and Morrison remain in custody at Inverness Jail, each with bail set at $2 million.

Comments are closed.