PORTLAND, Ore. — Police arrested a man and detained three other people after receiving a tip about a stolen vehicle in Southeast Portland's Centennial neighborhood Thursday night. A shelter-in-place order for people living nearby has been lifted.
Around 10 p.m., Chaz, a member of the Facebook group PDX Stolen Cars, spotted a Volkswagen without license plates in the Fred Meyer parking lot on 145th Street.
“We noticed a car sitting in the parking lot of the Fred Meyer; a person was standing on the outside of the vehicle, kept looking back at us. I knew it looked suspicious," Chaz said.
Looking for stolen cars is more than a hobby for Chaz: he volunteers so much time searching, it's more like a second job. Titan Crawford, founder of PDX Stolen Cars, says Chaz is one of the most committed volunteers on the team.
“He’ll sit for hours at a long distance keeping an eye on the vehicles," Crawford said. "He’s got 100x zoom on his phone to update police on their location.”
Chaz called police and officers were able to confirm the vehicle was stolen.
Police stopped the vehicle on Southeast 145th Avenue, just south of Southeast Division Street. One person ran from the vehicle and officers set up a perimeter around the neighborhood. Portland police said the investigation "suggested that the suspect could be armed." The Special Emergency Reaction Team (SERT) and the Crisis Negotiation team responded, and law enforcement asked nearby residents to shelter in place.
“This one was a very big scene, so many officers. I couldn’t believe it," Chaz said.
Officers detained three people who were inside the vehicle. SERT officers found and arrested the suspect who ran away around 12:49 a.m. Police later identified him as 23-year-old Reece Miller. He was booked on a parole violation. Police did not immediately confirm whether he was armed.
The shelter-in-place order was lifted shortly after Miller was arrested.
But Chaz says it's not about the arrests — it's about helping Portlanders recover what they've lost.
“We don’t do this for donations. We do this because we love our community," Chaz said. "We want to help. So, when we get to tell them we have their vehicle, it’s the best feeling in the world. Even just to get that thank you, it feels good."
Crawford and Chaz say they've both seen fewer reports of stolen vehicles in the last year.
“Police have reported that there’s less stolen vehicles and we’ve seen that reflected in the number of posted vehicles [on PDX Stolen Cars],” Crawford explained.
Portland Police records show a dramatic decrease in reported car thefts. In October 2022, 931 cars were reported stolen. That number dropped to 590 in October of 2023.
This is a developing story and it may be updated when more information becomes available.
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