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‘Operation Safer Multnomah’ targets fugitives running from gun, drug charges

by | Jun 16, 2022 | Headline Feed, Multnomah County

‘Operation Safer Multnomah’ targets fugitives running from gun, drug charges
A group of deputy U.S Marshals knock on a door to speak with a resident as they try to learn the location of a man sought on an arrest warrant as part of Operation Safer Multnomah on Friday, June 10, 2022 in Portland.An Audi seized after the arrest of Joshua R. Sparks was towed to the garage of Multnomah County Sheriff's Special Investigations Unit, where it was searched. Inside the car, a deputy U.S. Marshal and county sheriff's sergeant found two guns, a fake police outfit, handcuffs, a Taser and bear spray. Two handguns, bear spray and a bag of suspected methamphetamine were pulled from a black purse found in the back seat of the seized Audi after an arrest for Operation Safer Multnomah on Friday, June 10, 2022.Deputy U.S. Marshal Chris Tamayo unpacks faux police garb from a bag found in the back seat of a seized Audi, obtained by warrant after an arrest for Operation Safer Multnomah on Friday, June 10, 2022.Deputy U.S. Marshal Chris Tamayo, center, discusses how his team will approach an apartment as they seek to gain more information on one of their targets sought on a warrant as part of Operation Safer Multnomah on Friday, June 10, 2022.Deputy U.S. Marshal Chris Tamayo, left, plans his team's next move with a colleague during Operation Safer Multnomah Friday, June 10, 2022 in Gresham.Evidence tape secures the doors to a seized Audi, towed to the Multnomah County Sheriff's Special Investigations Unit after the arrest of Joshua R. Sparks, accused of violating his federal supervision.Deputy U.S. Marshal Chris Tamayo searches through the interior of the seized silver Audi, on Friday, June 10, 2022.Deputy U.S. Marshal Chris Tamayo, walks to his vehicle after an interview for Operation Safer Multnomah on Friday, June 10, 2022 in Gresham.Multnomah County Sheriff's Sgt. Matt Ferguson and deputy U.S. Marshal Chris Tamayo found this fake police outfit inside a bag on the back seat of a seized Audi during last week's roundup of violent crime offenders wanted on warrants. The black shirt had a fake patch with fake state of Oregon seal that read, “Portland Force Protection Officer.” Deputy U.S. Marshal Chris Tamayo found a bag with a sticker that reads Before heading out, deputy U.S. Marshals share information on the people sought on arrest warrants. They flip through photos in manila envelopes that hold information on the suspects sought, their photos, addresses and associates. Twenty-four people were arrested last week on federal or state warrants as three teams of U.S. deputy marshals from the Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force, working with state and local law enforcement and parole and probation officers, fanned out across the metropolitan Portland region to pick up alleged repeat gun, drug or other violent crime offenders.The silver Audi was towed after Multnomah County sheriff’s deputies on June 9, 2022, arrested Joshua Ryan Sparks, 44, outside a Denny’s Restaurant near Southeast 105 Avenue and Stark Street. Sparks, a documented member of the European Kindred gang convicted in 2014 of meth distribution following a major drug takedown dubbed “White Christmas,” was wanted on a federal warrant for violating his supervision after getting out of prison last year. He was seen driving the Audi and then threw the FOB key under another vehicle as police moved in to arrest him, according to the sheriff's office.Multnomah County Sheriff's Sgt. Matt Ferguson weighed a plastic baggie of suspected methamphetamine seized from the back seat of a silver Audi linked to a man arrested on a federal warrant last week in Portland. It contained about a quarter pound of the drug, he said.Deputy U.S. Marshal Chris Tamayo scrolls through records on his laptop while he directs a team of officers looking to arrest people sought on warrants for violent crimes during a five-day roundup dubbed Operation Safer Multnomah.Multnomah County Sheriff's Sgt. Matt Ferguson and deputy U.S. Marshal Chris Tamayo found two guns, a baggy of methamphetamine and a full fake police outfit, complete with a Taser that doubles as a flashlight, inside a silver Audi seized last week during the operation.

A Multnomah County sheriff’s sergeant and a deputy U.S. marshal pulled on rubber gloves, ripped off the evidence tape on a silver Audi and started to comb through the interior.