Find out how a late-night knifepoint carjacking in outer East Portland summoned 21 law enforcement units to corner a stolen vehicle …
This is the vehicle stopped by Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office Transit Police on SE 85th Avenue, just south of Clinton Street, following a late-night knifepoint carjacking.
Story and photos by David F. Ashton
A violent knifepoint carjacking in the Foster-Powell neighborhood later proved to be related to an emergency police response on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, at 9:12 p.m., when officers responded a report of a “Suspicious Vehicle” incident near the intersection of SE Clinton Street and 87th Avenue in the Powellhurst-Gilbert neighborhood.
Before being forced to a stop on SE 85th Avenue, the fleeing driver tore the front bumper off this Subaru Outback in the violent attempt to evade Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office Transit Police officers.
Rapid police convergence in Powellhurst-Gilbert
Just two blocks from where responders were originally dispatched, officers found a vehicle stopped sideways on SE 85th Avenue.
The southbound vehicle had been cut off and stopped by Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) Transit Police vehicles. A total of 21 law enforcement cruisers – including numerous Portland Police Bureau (PPB) District cars, and two K9 units – quickly arrived to assist.
Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office Transit Police officers inspect a carjacked vehicle stopped sideways along SE 85th Avenue as law enforcement officers search the area for the driver who burst from the car and ran away.
Stolen vehicle located 1.4 miles from crime scene
When we first inquired regarding the heavy police response, officials directed initial context toward assisting regional units.
It was at 9:41 p.m. that the full scope of the case was explained with a robbery dispatch.
MCSO Public Information Officer Deputy John Plock clarified the sequence of events: “The MCSO Transit Police Division call was an assist call on a PPB case. A Transit Police officer located a vehicle connected to a PPB robbery call in the Foster-Powell neighborhood that had been dispatched at 9:41 p.m.”
A Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office Transit Police officer searches for evidence in the vicinity of the crashed Subaru Outback, stolen at knifepoint earlier in the evening.
PPB Public Information Manager Mike Benner provided East Portland News additional details on the underlying crime: “As you’ve learned, at this location, Transit Division officers located a vehicle that was stolen – at knifepoint – minutes earlier in the Foster-Powell neighborhood, near SE 76th Avenue and Holgate Boulevard.”
The vehicle recovery spot was approximately 1.4 miles away from where the carjacking occurred. Benner updated the status of the investigation: “At this point, nobody has been arrested” – and the search for the driver who bailed out from the stolen car was still in progress.
If you have information, and haven’t yet spoken with investigators contact the Portland Police Bureau at crimetips@police.portlandoregon.gov and reference Case No. PM-26-46438
© 2026 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™
