Discover how this outer East Portland crime reduction operation, orchestrated by the Portland Police Bureau, made our neighborhoods safer last Sunday …
Lots of Portland Police squad cars on SE Washington Street turned out to be a sign that a Portland Metro Stolen Vehicle Operation is underway.
Story and photos by David F. Ashton
To avoid tipping off thieves driving stolen vehicles, the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) keeps their Portland Metro Stolen Vehicle Operation (SVO) mission under wraps – until after it’s concluded.
While covering other stories on Sunday, July 27, East Portland News came across one of the many of those incidents that turned out to be a large-scale SVO mission hosted by PPB East Precinct.
It was hard to miss the many PPB patrol cars stopped along SE Washington Street, from 82nd Avenue of Roses east to 85th Avenue at 3:41 p.m., that afternoon.
Officers set up a perimeter to search for a trio of suspects who ran from a stolen truck.
A check of the Media 911 Incident Map showed a total of 15 officers had been dispatched at 3:28 p.m. on a “Suspicious Subject or Vehicle” call on the 8300 Block of SE Alder Street. As the incident unfolded, the location was shown to be marked as being at SE 82nd Avenue of Roses, and Market Street.
A neighbor slowed, rolled down his window, and called to us, “It’s about that Dodge RAM truck, stopped on the side of [SE Washington] Street. The guys bailed out and ran in all directions!”
After the occupants have fled, an officer checks out the interior of the truck …
… after examining the content a suitcase in the bed of the pickup truck.
Indeed, a manhunt was on; patrol cars with officers – including one from the Gresham Police Department – had formed a perimeter, hoping to snag the fleeing riders.
“During the SCO, officers spotted a vehicle driving recklessly at a high rate of speed,” PPB Public Information Manager Mike Benner later explained. “Officers attempted a traffic stop, but the vehicle eluded.
“It eventually pulled over, and three people (a driver and two passengers) fled,” Benner continued. “One of the passengers was located, and taken into custody due to a warrant.”
After a suspect is arrested, officers keep searching for two others who fled from the stolen vehicle.
The man arrested was 28-year-old Alexis Alexis Garcia-Marroquin; he was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center at 4:55 p.m. – on a “County Hold” warrant. After his matriculation Garcia-Marroquin was set free by a kindly judge without even the necessity of paying bail that evening. Release Reason: Released on Own Recognizance.
More arrests from more SVO stops
Officers keep watch, as the Portland Metro SVO mission unfolds.
During the course of that 61st Portland Metro SVO mission, their mission was directed by university statisticians – with a high success rate: One out of four “traffic stops” that day resulted in recovering a stolen vehicle.
In one instance, an Oregon State Police Trooper spotted a stolen vehicle just off the I-205 Freeway near NE 99th Avenue and Glisan Street, and notified the SVO team. Officers then spotted the vehicle three blocks due north, at NE 99th Avenue and Pacific Street. Instead of pursuing the recklessly careening car, officers turned over surveillance to the PPB’s “Eye in the Sky” – the Portland Police Air Support airplane – which followed the vehicle from overhead and kept the officers on the ground updated on its location.
A wild, four-mile ride finally ended
Even though no police were pursuing, the suspect drove recklessly through the Hazelwood neighborhood scraping other vehicles and knocking down street signs. It eventually crashed nearly four miles from where it was first spotted, in the Centennial neighborhood near SE 146th and Division Street.
The air unit notified ground officers of the crash, but before they could arrive the driver of the stolen car tried to run away – unsuccessfully. He was chased down and held by an occupant of the vehicle suspect had crashed into until the police arrived to make the arrest.
Here’s the loaded weapon officers found in the stolen car. PPB image
Officers confirmed the crashed car was stolen, and discovered a loaded semi-automatic shotgun-style rifle with ammunition in it. The rifle’s serial number had been intentionally obliterated, which is also a crime.
The fleeing driver, 35-year-old Felipe Hernandez Cazares of Hillsboro, was booked into the MCDC 5:05 p.m., and is currently facing 26 charges – including Unlawful Possession of a Firearm, Attempt to Elude, Reckless Driving, Reckless Endangering, and felony-level property damage – and also for being a convicted sex offender who had not registered.
Cazares is currently lodged in the MCDC without bail, and also on a County Hold for which bail is set at $10,000.
This sergeant checks a bag found during the stolen vehicle mission – it contained drugs and a gun. PPB image
Additionally, this large, multi-agency stolen car operation in outer East Portland and along the Gresham border resulted in this scorecard:
7 – Stolen Vehicles recovered
3 – Guns recovered
9 – Arrests
6 – Warrants Serviced
7 – Vehicle Eludes
2 – Pursuits
As twilight comes, officers stop another of the seven stolen vehicles that they found during the successful mission.
Participating agencies included the Portland Police Bureau, the Gresham Police Department, the Port of Portland, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Auto Theft Task Force, the Vancouver Police Department, and the community-based group PDX Stolen Cars.
© 2025 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™
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