The Search for Nicole: The Armed Robber Next Door

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

The Armed Robber Next Door

Last night was probably the most excitement I have had for a long time. An armed robber was hiding out in a van next to the house next to our office!

At about 4:30, 6 police cars were instantly at the intersection near our building. They did not have their sirens on, so I didn't even notice them until I looked out the window and saw what appeared to be and undercover agent of some sort pulling out his badge. My coworkers and I went outside to see what was going on and one of the cops was motioning (not talking or yelling) for us to go back inside. For about the next hour we were all glued to the windows. There was a sniper on the roof of the building behind ours and his gun was pointed at the van that was in the driveway next door. There was also a sniper with his gun propped up on a car across the street in front of our building. At this time, we still didn't know exactly where he was hiding out but we speculated that they were trying to flush him out of somewhere over there.

All this time, I am worried because I traded pickups with my friend for the day and his truck was in the street right in front of the house next door. I was sure his truck was going to be full of holes when this whole thing was over.

We heard a knock at the door and the cop who motioned for us to "go back inside" was there with another cop who had an AR-15 (a big friggin' gun)- they came to escort us to a "safer place." It was crazy- The cop with the big gun was walking backwards with his gun pointed at the house next door with us behind him. I don't think i've ever been that close to that big of a gun. They escorted us across the street to the paint store where we watched at a distance for a while until they made us go inside the paint store for safety. We hung out there for a while whre we couldn't see much except the cops stading by their cars chatting.

While we were in the paint store, 3 SWAT vans pulled up and took over as the Portland Police backed off. One of the SWAT vans had a bomb robot. Crazy. When the robber was finally arrested, we were let outside again. We watched the SWAT team drive away and we could finally leave. We talked to the super nice policeman who told us the story- that the guy had robbed a bank in Milwaukie (a suburb) yesterday and that there was a high speed chase that ended in our neighborhood. The guy fled on foot and jumped the fence behind our building and found the van next door.

Last night was our season opener for softball and I missed the first game. That made me angry at that bank robber. Grrrrr!

http://katu.com/stories/87533.html

The roof of the building behind ours