PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A 19-year-old man was arrested after robbing five teen girls at gunpoint and fleeing from a traffic stop, Portland police said.
Officers responded to a parking lot in the 8400 block of SE Foster Road at about 8:45 p.m. on Tuesday where the five girls reported being robbed. They told police the suspect approached them as they sat in a parked car, threatened them with a gun, then robbed them. The suspect left but officers managed to get a description of the suspect vehicle, police said.
The following night at about 11 p.m., a motorcycle officer spotted the suspect vehicle traveling at about 100 miles per hour on southbound I-205 near East Burnside Street, according to the Portland Police Bureau.
Additional officers were called in to help and they tried to stop the suspect but he refused, police said. Officers decided to not pursue the driver but the PPB’s Air Support Unit followed from above and helped officers coordinate the placement of spike strips. Two of the suspect’s tires were popped but he kept driving — eventually stopping at an apartment complex in the 2600 block of SE 162nd Avenue, police said.
The driver and a passenger ran from the vehicle and officers set up a perimeter. The Special Emergency Reaction Team and Crisis Negotiation Team were called in to help because the suspect was thought to be armed, police said.
Officers later confronted the suspects in an apartment where they surrendered and a gun was recovered as evidence, according to PPB.
Luis A. Uchin-Lopez of Portland was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center. The 19-year-old is facing charges of 1st-degree robbery, unlawful possession of a firearm, attempt to elude by vehicle, and unauthorized use of a vehicle.
Three other people who were detained were not charged, police said.