PPB’s new ‘FIT’ squad arrests armed robbers

Here’s a look at some of the good the Portland Police Bureau “Focused Intervention Team” is doing in outer East Portland – taking guns away from armed, violent people …

In the Lents neighborhood, officers spot people in a car who appear to be acting suspiciously.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton

It appears that the months of planning, and weeks of specialized training that went into creating a new squad in the Portland Police Bureau (PPB), the Focused Intervention Team (FIT) is paying off, as these officers and command staff begin to make inroads into the shootings that have been plaguing neighborhoods of outer East Portland.

This incident started in the Lents neighborhood, just west of parking lot that serves Walker Stadium, on Friday evening, January 28 at 10:46 p.m. It was then that PPB East Precinct officers carefully approached the occupants of a vehicle, considered to be suspicious, on SE Pardee Street, near where it dead-ends into 94th Avenue and the I-205 Multi-Use Path.

Instead of remaining stopped, the driver sped away – but the officers didn’t pursue the fleeing vehicle. Why? Because before making contact with the vehicle, they’d asked the officers flying high above in “Air 2” – the PPB’s “eye-in-the-sky” – to keep watch over them so, they didn’t need to give chase.

Suspect’s getaway tracked from above
As Air 2 officers watched, the vehicle took off to the northwest. “Despite not being pursued, the driver continued driving recklessly, eventually crashing head-on into another vehicle at SE Hawthorne Boulevard at about 27th Avenue,” a PPB spokesperson reported – adding that the occupants of the victim car were determined not to be injured.

At that point, one of the occupants in the suspect car tried to carjack (officials called it “strong-arm robbery attempt”) a passing driver of her car, but was not successful.

Although the suspect tried to run, the arriving officers arrested this suspect.

Arrested, charged, and jailed on a firearm charge is 30-year-old Donnie Pradith. Why no MCDC booking photo here? Due to the passage of House Bill 3273, sponsored and championed by Oregon State Representative Janelle Bynum (Democrat – Happy Valley), and Representative Brad Witt (Democrat – Clatskanie), neither the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, nor any other Oregon police agency, may release any booking photos as of January 1st.

Officer arrested Donnie Pradith, 30, of Gresham at the scene. Pradith was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center (MCDC) on January 29 at 12:43 a.m. on charges of Robbery in the Third Degree, Felon in Possession of a Firearm, Possession of a Loaded Firearm in Public Place, and Attempting to Elude on Foot. Two stolen guns were recovered and seized as evidence.

Since his arrest, all charges appeared to have been “Released” by a judge. However, Pradith is serving an undisclosed term in Inverness Jail on the “Felon in Possession of a Firearm” charge.

Back in Lents, officers set up to arrest the driver of the suspect car.

Driver caught days later
Although the suspect driver was not immediately captured, East Precinct officers and the FIT members learned the identity of the driver who gave them the slip.

However, on February 5, at 5:21p.m., they located that suspect just four blocks away from where the incident began days before, across from Lents Park, near the corner of SE 92nd Avenue and Mitchell Street.

Court papers say that when officers arrested this man, 31-year-old Damande Romel Carter, they caught him with a loaded, stolen gun. Why no MCDC booking photo here? Due to the passage of House Bill 3273, sponsored and championed by Oregon State Representative Janelle Bynum (Democrat – Happy Valley), and Representative Brad Witt (Democrat – Clatskanie), neither the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, nor any other Oregon police agency, may release any booking photos as of January 1st.

Arrested was Damande Romel Carter, 31, of Portland.

While we can’t publish the booking photo of the man who police say had this gun, we can show you weapon! The bullet above the gun was loaded in the firing chamber, and the “extended” magazine was also fully loaded with rounds when the firearm was taken from the suspect, police say. PPB image

He was booked into the MCDC on the evening of his arrest at 6:14 p.m. on charges of Felon in Possession of a Firearm, Felony Attempt to Elude by Vehicle, Reckless Driving, Failure to Perform the Duties of a Driver (property damage), Attempt to Elude on Foot, and Theft in the First Degree.

All of the charges were “Released” by a judge; but currently he is being held without bail only on the Parole Violation charge, while awaiting sentencing.

Perhaps some neighbors in the Lents neighborhood will sleep better, knowing that several stolen guns, and the violent people who used them, are no longer on their streets.

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