Is the Portland Police Bureau ‘Focused Intervention Team’ making a difference in our neighborhoods? You bet! Take a look …
Officers of the specialized Portland Police Bureau Focused Intervention Team are on the lookout, in outer East Portland, for people illegally using guns. They locate and seize them in the Hazelwood neighborhood, and in Parkrose.
Story and photos by David F. Ashton
Months after the Portland Police Commissioner, Mayor Ted Wheeler, announced plans for the formation of a new team at the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) called the Focused Intervention Team (FIT), their new staff started training for the new assignment in early January. CLICK HERE to read about this training, and to see a video of it in action.
Then, the FIT squad rolled out for their first night shift on January 19th. CLICK HERE to see their first deployment unfold.
East Portland News has covered some of their successes, since they started. Here are four more cases, just in the last couple of weeks, in which FIT officers confiscated guns illegally in the possession of potentially-violent people.
February 12
Suspect, with gun, arrested in Parkrose Heights
Officers stand by, as a suspect who fled from FIT team members in Hazelwood is tracked to Parkrose Heights.
The evening of February 12, FIT Officers were doing extra patrols in an area near SE 122nd Avenue and Stark Street – where there have been a lot of shootings lately – including a deadly daytime drive-by shooting on February 2.
At 9:50 pm that night, the officers spotted a vehicle matching the description of one used in a recent shooting. Due to an investigative interest in the vehicle, officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop,” a PPB official stated. “The vehicle’s driver eluded the officers, but due to there being several FIT Officers working in the area, they were able to continue to observe the suspect’s vehicle.”
The officers tracked him north along 122nd Avenue for about 1.8 miles, into the Parkrose Heights neighborhood – where the driver stopped at the corner of Knott City Park, near NE 117th Avenue and Brazee Street. The suspect in the car took off on foot, hoping to ditch the officers – a strategy that seldom is successful. He was shortly taken into custody without incident.
Officers say they located this 9mm firearm or near the suspect. PPB image
Officers arrested and booked 26-year-old Zannan Anthony Cameron. To learn why there is no booking photo available, CLICK HERE.
Cameron was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center (MCDC) at 10:23 p.m. that evening charges of Elude in Vehicle, Elude on Foot, Reckless Driving, Unlawful Possession of a Firearm, Felon in Possession of a Firearm, and a separate warrant.
For these charges Misdemeanors and Felonies, Cameron’s combined bail was set at $15,000. However, Cameron was released from custody in the MCDC on February 23 – into the custody of the Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office, as a Fugitive, and on an Identity Theft charge.
February 16
In Parkrose, a suspect with a gun is arrested
In addition to locating an intoxicated driver, officers also found drugs and a handgun.
During an evening patrol by FIT officers along NE Sandy Boulevard – where there have been numerous shootings – they took notice of a gold-colored Chevrolet Tahoe being operated carelessly, as if the driver was intoxicated, near the Interstate 205 interchange.
At 11:46 p.m., they conducted a traffic stop without incident. However, the officers determined that the motorist’s driving privileges were suspended; so, the vehicle was parked as a hazard, and a tow was ordered.
Along with cocaine, officers also found this handgun in the vehicle. PPB image
“Upon inventory of the vehicle, officers located cocaine, evidence of drug distribution, and a loaded .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun.”
Officers arrested 28-year-old Colin Jesse Nacoste of Gresham. Why no booking photo? CLICK HERE.
Nacoste was lodged in the MCDC at 12:13 a.m. on February 17 on charges of Distribution of a Controlled Substance, Possession of a Controlled Substance, Felon in Possession of a Firearm, and Careless Driving.
At his arraignment on three Class C Felony charges, Nacoste learned that his combined bail was to be set at $30,000; and he was also placed on a no-bail “County Hold”. Nacoste was released from the MCDC on February 23 and into the custody of the Hood River County Sheriff’s Office for an outstanding warrant.
February 17
Suspects shoot at FIT cops, flee into Vancouver
Three men face multiple charges after they shot at FIT officers from an eluding vehicle on February 17 at 10:37 p.m. The location was again the NE Sandy Boulevard/Interstate-205 interchange.
In this case, the officers spotted a black 2000 Ford Mustang, whose driver driving wildly – including making dangerous lane changes, and blowing through stop signs. “When the officers initiated a traffic stop, the driver of the vehicle increased speed in an attempt to elude,” a PPB spokesperson reported.
The vehicle sped west on NE Sandy Boulevard; taking the onramp to Interstate-84 westbound from NE 39th Avenue, in the Hollywood neighborhood. An East Precinct officer deployed spike strips. It was then that the occupants shot at the officer who was standing outside of his patrol vehicle as they drove by.
With the suspect car’s tires flattening, officers followed at a distance. Remarkably, even with two flattening tires, the Mustang managed to enter northbound I-5 and fled north into Washington State.
After being able to drive no more on its brake rotors, with tires, rims, and wheels destroyed, this Ford Mustang finally comes to a stop. PPB image
At the request of PPB, the Clark County Sheriff’s Office and the Vancouver Police Department joined in the pursuit. At 10:58p.m., near NE St Johns Road and 68th Street in Vancouver, the Mustang crashed, and three occupants ran away. Two of them were immediately detained, and a third was captured after a K9 track.
Officers located bullet casings, back on the freeway onramp; but, despite being shot at, no officers were injured.
These are the guns taken from the three well-armed suspects who shot at officers. PPB images
Portland Police Homicide Unit detectives responded, to conduct an investigation. They obtained arrest warrants for the occupants of the vehicle, and all were booked into the Clark County Jail on outstanding warrants, along with charges from Clark County.
Clark County Sheriff’s Office detectives issued a search warrant for the Mustang, and the subsequent search recovered three firearms, along with additional bullet casings.
Booked into, and still lodged in, the Clark County Jail are:
24-year-old Cuahutemoc T. Hernandez on charges of Attempted Murder in the First Degree with a Firearm, and Unlawful Use of a Weapon, and additional charges from Clark County Sheriff’s Offic,e with combined bail set at $265,000.
27-year-old Zachary Michael Chronister on charges of Attempted Murder in the First Degree with a Firearm, Unlawful Use of a Weapon, and Felon in Possession of a Firearm. Chronister also had an outstanding parole violation warrant issued by the Oregon State Parole Board (original charge of Assault); and additional charges from Clark County Sheriff’s Office – with combined bail set at $100,000.
23-year-old Jose Antonio Martinez of Vancouver, on charges of Unlawful Use of a Weapon and Felon in Possession of a Firearm, with combined bail set at $100,000.
It is unclear when these suspects will be transferred to face the charges involving Multnomah County.
February 23
Speeding driver leads to gun arrest,
in Parkrose
Just off NE Sandy Boulevard, officers stop an erratically-driven vehicle, and find a gun in the car.
Once again, the FIT Squad returned to NE Sandy Boulevard – this time on February 23.
At 6:43 p.m., near NE 100th Avenue, the officers observed a black Nissan Altima weave in and out of eastbound traffic at a high rate of speed, causing other vehicles to swerve to avoid it.
The traffic stop went without incident; the officers discovered the recklessly-driving vehicle operator didn’t have a driver’s license – but, he did have an outstanding arrest warrant.
Taken from the car as evidence was this .22 caliber revolver. PPB image
Officers arrested 44-year-old Aaron Haamon Follstad-Martin [Why no booking photo? CLICK HERE] on the outstanding warrant, and he was booked into the MCDC at 7:45 p.m. At his arraignment, he learned that he was also charged with both Felony and Misdemeanor Possession of Methamphetamine, and would be held without bail in the MCDC on a Parole Violation charge. Later, the drug charges were “released” by the court.
Officers also arrested the passenger in the car, 42-year-old Janae Tanell Kelley; she was booked into the MCDC at 7:45 p.m. on charges of Unlawful Possession of a Firearm, Felon in Possession of a Firearm, and an outstanding warrant. The court “released” the Felony firearm charge, but Kelley is currently being held at MCDC on a $10,000 County Hold, and a parole violation charge.
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We congratulate the Portland Police Bureau Focused Intervention Team for taking guns out the hands of those who otherwise might well be shooting up our neighborhoods.
© 2022 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™
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