PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A driver and passenger were arrested in Southeast Portland after an armed carjacking early Tuesday morning in Southeast Portland.
The incident began around 7:30 a.m. when the victim of an armed carjacking called 911. Officers responded to a parking lot near the intersection of SE Stark and 92nd Avenue, the Portland Police Bureau said, which is where the caller said the stolen car was spotted.
When officers saw the car being driven out of the parking lot, they tried to make a traffic stop but the driver — later identified as Taysean Nash — took off. PPB patrol cars eventually surrounded the car, police said, but Nash got out and ran into a neighborhood.
Police set up a search perimeter. All traffic — including vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian — was blocked on SE 92nd Avenue between Washington Street and Taylor Street. Montavilla residents were told to shelter in place and lock their doors as officers searched for the suspect who they believed to be armed.
Nash was arrested around 11:40 a.m. after police found him hiding under a house in a crawlspace near SE 92nd and Alder.
The passenger in the car, Rhachelle H. Cotton, was also arrested. Police said they found a gun that turned out to be a BB gun. Officials said it was virtually indistinguishable from a real firearm unless it was closely inspected.
Nash, 21, and Cotton, 25 are being held in the Multnomah County Jail on 2 charges each of robbery and unlawful use of a motor vehicle, all felonies.