‘Spike strip’ stops Powellhurst-Gilbert carjacker

Almost a day later, police stop the suspected carjacker, not far from where the vehicle was taken from a woman in outer East Portland …

A car is hijacked in the Powellhurst-Gilbert neighborhood; police finally spot it and stop it about 23 hours later – about 25 blocks away from where it was stolen.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton

A woman told police that she’d been the victim of a hijacking on Tuesday, March 24, at 12:16 a.m. Portland Police Bureau (PPB) East Precinct officers drove to meet her, where’d shed been left standing, by the bandit – on the street, near the SE 135th Avenue and the Powell Boulevard Plaid Pantry store.

Officers fanned out through neighborhood streets and searched for the stolen car, but couldn’t find it at the time.

Much later that same day, 11:05 p.m., East Precinct officers located the suspect vehicle not far south from where it was stolen, at SE 136th Avenue and Holgate Boulevard, near Gates Park.

These officers stand by while others look over the reportedly carjacked vehicle, finally stopped by tire-flattening police spike strips deflating its tires.

“Officers initiated a traffic pursuit after the vehicle failed to yield,” a police spokesperson recounted.

The car took off west, then careened north through neighborhood streets.

Using their radios, officers coordinated an effort to place a spike strip in the street to puncture the fleeing car’s tires. “The vehicle ultimately came to a stop near the intersection of SE 101^st Avenue and Division Street, where three occupants were detained at the scene,” the PPB representative said.

Facing two felony Robbery charges in connection with this cargacking is this suspect, 20 year-old Jaquin Eliud Rubio. MCDC booking photo

The driver of the reported-stolen vehicle, the carjacking suspect, was identified as 20 year-old Jaquin Eliud Rubio, and he was taken into custody.

Rubio was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center (MCDC) on March 25 at 4:00 a.m. on charges of Robbery in the Second Degree, Robbery in the Third Degree, Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle, Criminal Mischief in the First Degree, Harassment, two counts of Attempt to Elude By Vehicle, and two counts of Reckless Driving.

At his arraignment, Rubio faced a benevolent Multnomah County District Court judge who “released” most of his charges, except for the two felony Robbery counts and the Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle charge.

Thus, Rubio’s combined bail dropped from $290,000, all the way down to $35,000. Nevertheless, Rubio hasn’t made bail, and remains in custody at MCDC.

This case is still under investigation.

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