Suspected car thief breaks into apartment, hides, is arrested

INCLUDES VIDEO | Discover why it took so long for officers to arrest this man in the Centennial neighborhood – and why he was promptly sent to Clackamas County after his arrest in outer East Portland …

Police officers from Portland and Gresham converge on an apartment complex in the Centennial Community Association neighborhood – when a man, allegedly in a stolen car, forces his way into an apartment to hide.

Trouble again descended upon the Arbor Glen Apartments, off SE 145th Avenue and a block south of Division Street, on Saturday afternoon, July 29.

Both Portland Police Bureau (PPB) and Gresham Police Department (GPD) officers were parked in the driveway of the apartment complex, with more on the street, just outside.

The driveway and parking lot of this apartment complex are filled with police cruisers, as officers – and police dogs – search for a suspected car thief.

Dispatched as a “Suspicious Subject, Vehicle, or Circumstance” call at 4:38 p.m. it didn’t take long for 16 officers to arrive – six of them PPB Canine Teams.

“Officers had followed a reported-stolen vehicle to this location,” PPB Public Information Officer Lt. Nathan Sheppard told us, after the incident.

A GPD sergeant talks with a PPB detective about the situation.

“The suspect fled in the car, and ran into the apartment complex,” Lt. Sheppard told East Portland News. “A resident ran out to officers and said someone had burst into her apartment.”

Watch as officers gather to coax the subject out of an apartment where he’d holed up:

The 6 ft. 5 in., 220 lb. subject would have been easy to spot, but he would not come out of the apartment.

So, officers were compelled to enter it and search for him, which led to the callout of police dogs to help locate the man hidden inside and to force him to cooperate.

“Eventually, the man was taken into custody,” Lt. Sheppard concluded. Several officers remained there past 7 p.m. that evening, continuing the investigation.

After being captured, the suspect – 29-year-old Alex James Raphu — is seated in the back seat of a patrol car, as an officer closes the door.

Officers arrested 29-year-old Alex James Raphun, who was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center (MCDC) at 7:28 p.m. that evening on multiple charges – including the Felonies of Burglary in the First Degree, Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle, Possession of a Stolen Vehicle, and Misdemeanor charges of Reckless Driving and Reckless Endangerment.

After spending a couple of days in the MCDC, Raphun was released to the custody of Clackamas County on August 1 for a Parole Violation in that jurisdiction, with “County Hold” bail amounts totaling $60,000. If and when his situation is sorted out in Clackamas County, he’ll return to Multnomah County for “Pre-Trial Release”.

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