Montavilla carjacking suspects found and arrested

Here’s why a section of this outer East Portland neighborhood was closed on Tuesday, while SERT officers searched for a suspect – with a gun – on the run …

Pinned behind this Portland Police Bureau patrol is the reportedly-carjacked Subaru WRX Compact Sports Sedan.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton

An armed robbery suspect on the run in the Montavilla neighborhood had a swarm of Portland Police Bureau (PPB) officers intensively searching the area the morning of August 31

At 7:22a.m., PPB East Precinct Officers were dispatched to the large Cascade 205 athletic club parking lot along SE Stark Street, for a “Suspicious Circumstances” call.

The escape route of for the driver of this sporty Subaru was blocked by a PPB cruiser.

While they were on the way, dispatchers let them know that a victim of an armed carjacking was the person who reported the problem to the 9-1-1 Center, and that they’d located the car that had been taken from them at gunpoint earlier that morning.

Officers saw the vehicle leaving the parking lot, and tried to stop it; but, the driver stepped on the gas to speed away. The car didn’t get far; officers used their cruisers to surround and stop it as it turned south on SE 92nd Avenue, before it could reach SE Washington Street.

SE Washington Street is closed off at SE 92nd Avenue, as PPB SERT officers deploy in the area.

The driver, who is believed to be the robbery suspect, got out and ran south into the neighborhood.

With a potentially-armed man on the run, officers set up a dragnet, closing off streets in the area. PPB sergeants called in the Bureau’s Special Emergency Reaction Team (SERT), Crisis Negotiation Team (CNT), K9 police dog units, and the Air Support Unit. It wasn’t long until 32 PPB units had converged at the location.

Near the eastern end of SE Alder Street, another group of PPB SERT officers – with the help of the keen smelling ability of a police dog – track the suspect.

Members of SERT conducted a methodical search of the blocks, from SE 92nd Avenue to I-205, and SE Washington Street to Taylor Street.

At 11:42 a.m., a SERT officer discovered the suspect hiding in the crawlspace under a house, near where the east end of SE Alder Street dead-ends into I-205 Multi-Use Path.

This gun, believed to be the one used in the carjacking, was recovered from the car. Although it’s a BB gun, it looks indistinguishable from a real firearm unless it is closely inspected. PPB image

“A handgun has also been seized as evidence,” a PPB spokesperson said.

Facing five Felony charges is 21-year-old Taysean Javeon Nash. MCDC booking photo

PPB Robbery Detectives booked 21-year-old Taysean Javeon Nash, into the Multnomah County Detention Center (MCDC) at 2:53 p.m. that afternoon on charges of Robbery in the First Degree, Robbery in the Second Degree, and Unauthorized Use of a Vehicle.

At his arraignment, Nash learned that the Robbery in the First Degree Felony charge had been dropped; however, he’d be facing four (4) Felony Robbery in the Second Degree charges, as well as the charge of Unauthorized Use of a Vehicle, also a Felony. Currently, Nash is lodged in the MCDC in lieu of $1,005,000 combined bail.

Also facing Felony charges in this case is a passenger in the stolen car, 25-year-old Rhachelle H. Cotton.

A passenger in the vehicle, 25-year-old Rhachelle H. Cotton, was also booked into the MCDC at 1:37 p.m. that afternoon on charges of Robbery in the First Degree, Robbery in the Second Degree, and Unauthorized Use of a Vehicle.

Cotton, at her arraignment, learned that the court dropped the felonious Robbery in the First Degree against her; however, she’d face two (2) Felony Robbery in the Second Degree charges, as well as the charge of Unauthorized Use of a Vehicle. In lieu of $505,000 combined bail, Cotton also remains lodged at the MCDC.

After the suspects are in custody, a member of the PPB SERT signals that the incident has concluded.

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