PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A missing teen was coaxed away from a registered sex offender who brandished a hatched at officers Thursday morning in Southeast Portland, police said.
Officers were called to the 14600 block of SE Harrison Street shortly before noon for a suspicious vehicle. They found two people unconscious inside the vehicle: a 17-year-old boy and a 34-year-old man identified as Jeremy M. Fanning, who is a registered sex offender, according to Portland police.
Officers spotted drug paraphernalia inside the vehicle. Police said they tried for 10 minutes to wake the occupants and eventually broke in through the driver’s side window. Fanning and the teen woke woke up and Fanning — who acted hostile — started the car, put it in gear and tried to drive away, police said. But police vehicles had boxed the car in and it was unable to leave.
An officer broke another window in the hopes of unlocking the door to rescue the teen but Fanning was encouraging him to stay, police said. Officers then placed a note on the window where only the teen could see it saying they were worried about his safety with Fanning. The teen got out of the car and was moved to a safe location with the officers.
Police said Fanning still refused to exit the car and armed himself with a hatchet. Officers warned him they would use force if he didn’t come out. Fanning finally put down the hatched and got out after officers sprayed pepper spray into the car.
PPB said officers “used numerous de-escalation and crisis communication techniques to effectively resolve the situation” over the course of an hour and a half.
Fanning was arrested, treated at the scene and booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center. He faces charges of failure to register as a sex offender, attempt to elude by vehicle, reckless driving, endangering the welfare of a minor and interfering with a peace officer.
The teen had a health check and he was taken to a shelter for runaway youth.