Pot theft foiled by canine cop

Find out why the suspect didn’t even get close enough to smell the marijuana, in this dispensary …

A man on parole decides to burgle the Progressive Collective Dispensary, and load up on some free marijuana.

By David F. Ashton

Perhaps it seemed like the “perfect crime” to 22-year-old Shaquille Laray Brown. Instead of buying marijuana, he’d simply use a hammer to smash in the window of the Progressive Collective Dispensary, located at 9810 East Burnside Street, and get it for free.

Brown put his plan into action in the wee hours of November 10, when, at 2:55 a.m., he smashed the Hazelwood neighborhood pot shop’s front window, setting off a burglar alarm, and summoning Portland Police Bureau (PPB) officers.

These smashed windows trigger an alarm, and brings police to the store.

The PPB East Precinct District officers rolled up and observed Brown trying to break the window with a hammer.

When officers got out of their vehicles to contact the suspect,” said PPB Public Information Officer Sgt. Pete Simpson, “Brown bolted and ran westbound.”

He didn’t run across the bridge; instead, he ran down a steep embankment, hopped MAX Light Rail Line fence and crossed the tracks, then hopped another fence next to the I-205 freeway, and kept running west.

“As he ran westbound across the lanes of I-205, officers maintained visual contact from the overpass above, and called for additional units to respond to the area,” Simpson said.

PPB officers Robert Wullbrandt and Trent Wiest, with the help of his canine partner “Hunter”, track down the would-be pot burglar.

“Several officers, including K-9 Unit Officer Trent Wiest and his partner “Hunter”, searched the area and located the suspect hiding in a neighborhood yard where he was taken into custody,” said Simpson.

Although some of the charges against him appear to have been dropped, 22-year-old Shaquille Laray Brown remains in custody.
Brown was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center (MCDC) at 4:26 a.m. in charges of Attempted Burglary in the Second Degree, Criminal Mischief in the Second Degree, Criminal Trespass in the Second Degree, and Interfering with a Peace Officer.

After Brown’s arraignment the following day, the judge “released” the Burglary, Criminal Mischief and Trespass charges; but the Criminal Mischief and Interfering with a Peace Officer stuck. Brown is currently lodged in Multnomah County Inverness Jail in lieu of $7,500 bail, and Parole Violation charge.

© 2015 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News

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