See what your outer East Portland police officers have been doing to reduce crime in our neighborhoods this week …
This festive season isn’t a “holiday” for Portland Police Bureau officers – who are actively working to reduce crime in our neighborhoods.
Story and photos by David F. Ashton
The joyful Holiday Season doesn’t stop – or even hinder – those with crime in mind. And so, our Portland Police Bureau (PPB) officers step up their patrols and detection activities – as they did this week.
Here are three examples …
November 22
Hazelwood ‘area check’ leads to capture of wanted felon
Looking north along NE 146th Avenue from East Burnside Street, we see officers closing in on a subject wanted for numerous gun and drug crimes.
A handful of officers were dispatched at 5:03 p.m., on November 22, to NE 146th Avenue – just north of East Burnside Street – for an “area check”. This sort of call can indicate that a wanted individual has been spotted in the area.
As the incident advanced over the span of four hours, as many as 31 PPB officers – including six K9 Police Dog teams, the Air 1 Aerial Surveillance airplane, and a number of MCSO deputies – responded to this call.
Officers line streets in the Hazelwood neighborhood – this photo was taken on East Burnside Street – all looking for a wanted suspect.
Patrol cars were stopped at intersections around the neighborhood, and police dogs were sniffing for the suspect within the blocks. Then, just before 9 p.m., all officers got in their vehicles, and drove away in different directions, as if being choreographed by a motion picture director.
“Officers up a perimeter to apprehend a wanted guy who was spotted in the area,” explained PPB Public Information Manager Mike Benner after the incident had concluded.
“The reason there were so many PPB units in the area was because there was a ‘Stolen Vehicle Operation’ underway in East Precinct, so they had the resources to set up a secure perimeter,” elaborated Benner.
“We typically don’t have the ability to assign so many resources, but it’s safer for everyone involved when we do,” Benner told East Portland News.
Finally, the wanted man is captured, soon to be taken to jail.
Their efforts paid off when they arrested 44-year-old Raymond Pershade Brown. He was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center on November 23rd at 12:26 a.m. on seven Felony and six Misdemeanor charges – which included Felon in Possession of a Firearm, in addition to stolen-vehicle and drug charges.
On two of the gun charges, Brown is being held for a combined bail of $20,000; but he’s also currently being held, without bail, in Inverness on a United States Marshall’s Hold.
November 23
Shooting wounds camper on NE Glisan Street
Officers search the area, when a man is shot in the Hazelwood neighborhood.
After shots were heard on NE Glisan Street near 97th Avenue on November 23, PPB East Precinct officers were dispatched to the scene at 1:11 p.m.
“Arriving officers located one male victim with a gunshot wound,” Public Information Manager Mike Benner revealed. “He was transported to the hospital for a non-life- threatening injury.”
The PPB Enhanced Community Safety Team arrived to take over the investigation.
An ambulance prepares to take a wounded man to be treated at a local hospital.
“At the scene, officers did not locate any shell casings, property damage, images on security cameras, or any other evidence,” Benner told us.
So far, no arrests have been made in this case. If you have information about this incident, and have not already spoken with investigators, contact crimetips@police.portlandoregon.gov, and state that it’s about Case No. 24-300515.
November 24
Guns, merchandise, crooks seized in ‘Retail Theft Mission’
At outer East Portland shopping centers, PPB officers and Sheriff’s Office deputies crack down on retail crime.
On Sunday, November 24, PPB East Precinct officers — along with others from North Precinct, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, and the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office, conducted a “retail theft mission” to put a damper on stealing from outer East Portland Stores.
Their focus was on the Mall 205 and Gateway Shopping Center areas.
During retail theft missions, PPB members work directly with retail store employees to spot, nab, and work toward the prosecution of those stealing from our merchants.
In the Gateway Shopping Center, officers arrest a suspected shoplifter near the Ross store – and they find more than simply shoplifted merchandise. PPB image
“Retail theft is often more than just shoplifting items for personal use,” a PPB official explained. “Many suspects are involved in organized theft rings, which steal things that can easily be sold for cash, or returned to stores for a ‘refund’.”
During the mission, officers contacted subjects who were involved in other criminal activities – ranging from illegally-possessed guns, and drug possession and distribution, to vehicle theft.
Here’s some of the stolen merchandise recovered during this mission. PPB images
The work resulted in the recovery of approximately $1,146 worth of stolen merchandise.
This Smith & Wesson Model 422 semiautomatic pistol was seized during the mission, officials say. PPB image
In addition, 25 people were arrested, one stolen vehicle was recovered, and one firearm seized.
One of the reasons for price increases in our local stores, and the outright closure of others, has been massive retail theft operations – some of which involve a number of thieves who move up and down the west coast stealing in bulk items which they can resell for cash.
The Portland Police Bureau has sworn to do its best to put a stop to this crime which hits us in our pocketbooks and lowers our quality of life. We’ll keep reporting on their efforts to do so.
© 2024 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™