Meat-cleaver-swinging carjacker tracked down and arrested in Hazelwood

INCLUDES VIDEO | You may be amazed at how short a distance this suspect got – after carjacking a vehicle, as he tried to out-run 46 officers in his bizarre outer East Portland crime odyssey …

In the Hazelwood neighborhood, along NE Halsey and Weidler streets, from NE 102nd Avenue east to 122nd Avenue, officers search for a carjacker armed with a meat cleaver.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton

An incident on Tuesday evening, of January 31, started out as a “Suspicious; Priority” call for Portland Police Bureau (PPB) East Precinct officers in the Gateway District – and before it ended turned into a massive call-out, four miles away from the starting point.

The officers responded to a 5:11 p.m. report of a stolen vehicle, sending out a tracking signal at the McDonald’s near NE 103rd Avenue, between Halsey and Weidler streets.

As the officers pulled up next to the stolen vehicle, still in the drive-through of the restaurant, the driver bailed out of the car and started running east.

Dozens of officers, including this one on NE Halsey Street, flood the area seeking the potentially-violent suspect.

Officers chased the suspect into another local restaurant – Siam Grill Thai Cuisine – as a witness recounted to East Portland News. There, he pushed is way into the kitchen and armed himself with a meat cleaver.

“A Taser device was deployed on him, but the suspect fled the restaurant and carjacked a passing motorist,” a PPB official reported.

Officers located the carjacked vehicle four miles east, on NE 122nd Avenue near Broadway, where the suspect got out and attempted to carjack additional vehicles – but these drivers locked their doors and sped off.

Four miles east, police cruisers swiftly respond to the area.

Soon, police vehicles were blocking off NE Broadway, as the suspect attempted to flee into the residential area nearby.

The suspect then ran west from NE 122nd Avenue on Broadway, where he managed to break into a private home. Officers surrounded the house, and members of the PPB’s Crisis Negotiation Team (CNT) – along with their Special Emergency Reaction Team (SERT) – started talking with the suspect.

After a PPB K-9 team tracks the suspect into a private home, they stand watch until the SERT officers arrive.

SERT officers pull up, prepared to enter and search the house.

The negotiations went on into the night. Finally, SERT officers made their way into the residence – after which the suspect in this was sniffed out by one of the three PPB K-9 police dog teams – he was hiding in the attic. The suspect was taken into custody by SERT officers.

“There were no reported injuries to any of the victims,” the PPB official assured.

Sorry, you’re not allowed to see the booking photo of this multi-crime suspect: 30-year-old Christopher Sean O’Connor. CLICK HERE to learn why it’s against the law for us to show you his mug shot.

30-year-old Christopher Sean O’Connor was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center (MCDC) at 8:30 a.m. on February 1, on charges of Robbery in the First Degree (two counts), Burglary in the First Degree, Burglary in the Second Degree, Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle (two counts), and Assault in the Fourth Degree. O’Connor also had an outstanding warrant for his arrest.

O’Connor is still in jail in the MCDC on his six Felony and one Misdemeanor charge, without bail.

Watch, as police close in on Christopher Sean O’Connor

If you have information about this case, and haven’t yet spoken with police, contact Detective Ken Reynolds at kenneth.reynolds@police.portlandoregon.gov or call (503) 823-0407 – and reference Case No. 23-29078.

© 2023 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™

 

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