Man arrested in Hazelwood after threatening TriMet security personnel

UPDATED | BRIEF AFTERMATH VIDEO INCLUDED | 7 EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS | You’ll see where this incident ended up – eleven blocks east of where it started, near a TriMet MAX Light Rail station …

This incident began at or near the TriMet MAX Light Rail Station at SE 122nd Avenue and East Burnside Street, when a man threatened security personnel.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton

This incident began on the sunny early afternoon of Thursday, November 20 with a ruckus caused by a man at or near the TriMet MAX Light Rail Station. The man reportedly threatened two Transit Security Guards with a weapon.

At 12:56 p.m. the Portland Bureau of Emergency Communications dispatched Multnomah County Sheriff’s Officers – MCSO leads the multi-agency TriMet Transit Police Division – along with numerous Portland Police Bureau (PPB) officers to the incident. All of them wre directed to SE 122nd Avenue at East Burnside Street.

Just out of view, officers encounter the man who threatened officers with an unspecified weapon – and a rock.

“After threatening the security guards, the suspect began walking, and then running, eastbound [along the south side of East Burnside Street] – where PPB encountered him at SE 131st Place and East Burnside Street,” MCSO Public Information Officer Brent Weisberg told East Portland News. A total of 20 officers arrived.

“Law enforcement quickly established probable cause to arrest the man,” Weisberg continued. “As officers began efforts to form an arrest team, the suspect continued walking east to SE 133rd Avenue and East Burnside Street – and as he walked, the suspect made repeated threats to harm police.”

Officers continue to arrive at the intersection of SE 131st Court and East Burnside Street.

The PPB officers tried unsuccessfully to calm the suspect by talking with him – but he refused orders to surrender and would not comply. Officers surrounded the area to prevent the suspect from escaping, or threatening anyone else.

Officers and paramedics gather at the intersection of SE 133rd Avenue and East Burnside Street as the subject keeps acting with hostility toward law enforcement.

“As law enforcement continued efforts to speak with the suspect, they saw him holding a weapon and a rock,” Weisberg revealed. “Law enforcement gave the man repeated warnings about use of force, while they worked to develop a plan to take him into custody. TriMet temporarily suspended MAX service in the area, as the incident continued.

One of the officers, wearing an orange sash, holds a “less than lethal” projectile launcher. One of these devices was used to subdue the noncompliant subject.

“At approximately 1:35 p.m., having exhausted de-escalation efforts, Transit Police and Portland Police implemented their arrest plan – and took the man into custody, following the deployment of less-than-lethal ‘foam impact rounds’ and a ‘conducted energy weapon’, commonly known as a TASER,” continued Weisberg.

This is an example of the “foam impact round” projectiles used by law enforcement agencies.

After the subject is subdued, he’s placed on a gurney to be taken to a hospital for a medical evaluation.

Officers requested the 36-year-old man be evaluated by medical personnel. And, even though he didn’t present any serious physical injuries, paramedics strapped him to a gurney and took him to a local hospital for evaluation.

See the aftermath of this incident, what we were permitted to capture, in our brief video:

UPDATE

On November 23, MCSO Public Information Officer Deputy John Plock revealed that the man arrested in this incident was 36-year-old Bobby Lee Yancy. He was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center (MCDC) on November 20 – after being medically evaluated at a hospital – at 8:57 p.m. on two Class A Misdemeanor charges of Menacing and Interfering with Public Transportation.

However, MCDC booking records show that Yancy was also booked in on charges of Robbery in the First Degree, a Class A Felony; Robbery in the Second Degree, a Class B Felony; and, Unlawful use of a Weapon, a Class C Felony.

Yancy was released on November 26. Release Reason: Paid Bail. According to Pat Dooris with the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office, Yancy’s bail was set at $5,000; and according to the rules, he was released after paying 10% of the total bail amount, in this case $500, and was assigned to “Pretrial Release Supervision”.

Investigators have not indicated they are seeking to speak with additional witnesses.

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