December 04, 2002
(Elje Jlartlanò ©bßeruer
Page A2
P olice
Hate «ri
Muslims,
Arabs
Targets of
Intimidation
(A P) — H ate crim es n Oregon
increased 50 percent last year,
according to new statistics re
leased by the FBI.
The agency says anti-A rab
sentim ent after the 2001 terrorist
attacks contributed to the rise in
such reported crim es in O regon,
from 171 to 255 between 2000 and
2001.
N ationally, the U nited States
recorded a 21 percent increase in
bias-m otivated crim es between
2000 and 2001, according to the
bureau’s annual Hate Crim es Sta
tistics report.
A more com prehensive data
collection system put in place by
¿ i.
If
z
the Portland Police Bureau also
c o n trib u te d to the sta tistic a l
spike, said Susan H ardy, a state
police crim e reporting specialist
in Salem.
H ardy said that no anti-A rab
bias crim es were reported in all of
2000. But in 2001, there were 29,
she said, and all o f them cam e in
after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The 29 victim s — 24 men, five
w om en — were targets o f intim i
dation or vandalism because o f a
hatred for A rabs or M uslim s,
the 9/11 attack. An A nglo woman
H ardy said.
O ne o f the m ost serious of uttered a racist remark at two Arab
O regon’s anti-A rab hate crim es men at a highw ay rest stop in
in 2001 occurred five days after D ouglas C ounty. W hen one o f
An Anglo woman uttered a racist remark at two
Arab men at a highway rest stop in Douglas County.
When one o f them stepped forward to challenge her
remark, she shoved him.
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them stepped forw ard to chal-
lenge her remark, she shoved him.
“She told them to go hom e,
because they w e re n ’t w anted
here,” H ardy said.
The num ber o f hate crim es re
ported to Portland police in all
are a s— race, religion, sexual ori
entation, ethnicity and disability
— increased from 33 to 108 be
tw een 2000 and 2001, according
to the FBI statistics. The num ber
o f hate crim es based on religion
alone clim bed from 2 to 14 reports
in that time.
G ulzar A hm ed, a founding
m em ber o f the Islam ic Society of
G reater Portland, said the num ber
o f hate crim es a g ain st A rab-
A m ericans w ould lessen if the
general public learned that they,
too, condem n terrorism .
“They have to be show n that
M uslims in general are peace-lov
ing people,” he said. “They are
going through difficult tim es.”
Three Arrested in
Drug Kingpin
Tigard Heroin Sweep Pleads Guilty
(A P) — N arcotics agents arrested
three men and searched six hom es in
Tigard, W oodburn and Portland in a
drug sw eep that officials say took out
a distribution ring w ith the potential
to supply half the heroin addicts in the
m etropolitan area.
Last w eek’s arrests w ere the result
of a 10-m onth investigation by the FBI
and the Regional Organized Crime and
N arcotics Task Force, said John Laing,
assistant U.S. attorney.
He said the group w as re sp o n
sible for big shipm ents o f high-grade
heroin in te n d e d fo r P o rtla n d area
s tre e ts . A b o u t tw o -th ird s o f
O re g o n ’s drug deaths last year w ere
blam ed on heroin.
“We hope that this w ill make a raa-
jo r im pact on the availability o f this
high-purity heroin,” L aing said.
Three M exican nationals w ere ar
rested and three others are fugitives in
the case.
O fficials say they are part o f a drug
trafficking netw ork in w estern M exico
that has ties to the T iju a n a -b a se d
A rellano-Felix cartel, one o f M exico’s
leading exporters o f heroin, cocaine,
m arijuana and m etham phetam ine into
the U nited States.
A rrested on drug trafficking charges
w ere E rubial P erez-D iaz, 27; A bel
M endoza-E squeda, 34; and C ornelio
M endoza-E squeda, 32. Being sought
are G uadalupe M endoza-E squeda, 28;
Juan C arlos Lopez, 25; and M arco A n
tonio Diaz-V ernal, 25.
(AP) — An accused drug kingpin has pleaded guilty
in federal court to importing more than $ 1 million of the
popular teenage drug Ecstasy to Portland.
Andre Nevin Wegner, 32, was to stand trial last week,
but instead pleaded guilty to seven counts of importation
and distribution. He also agreed to turn over $ 1 million in
drug proceeds.
W egner was charged in July 2001 after agents seized
21 pounds, or 30,000 tablets, of the drug — the largest
seizure o f Ecstasy in Portland to that date.
In the following months, agents seized more than
100,000 tablets and arrested five men.
W egner faces up to 20 years for each count but will
likely serve much less under U.S. sentencing guidelines.
He will be sentenced March 4, although he may be
sentenced in Los Angeles where he faces another federal
case involving Ecstasy importation, said his attorney,
Ronald Hoevet.
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CRIME
STOPPERS
Leads Sought in Northeast Murder
a m an, la te r id e n tifie d as 25-
Portland Police Bureau H o
y e a r o ld D o m in g o L e e
micide D etectives, in coop
G o n zales o f P o rtla n d , had
eration with C rim e Stoppers,
been tra n sp o rte d from the
are asking for your help in
lo c a tio n to a h o sp ita l by p ri
solving a hom icide.
vate v eh ic le and had d ied.
On Sunday, Nov. 17 at 4:30
A ccording to investigators,
a.m ., police responded to a
G
onzales
had been outside a
report o f “shots fired” near
hom
e
used
as “after hours
the intersection o f N ortheast
club,”
at
7144
N.E. 22nd, where
22nd A venue and L om bard
it
is
believed
30 to 50 people
Street. U pon arrival officers
Domingo Lee Gonzalez
were
inside.
Investigators
also
found evidence that several
shots had indeed been fired and at least one believe G o nzales’ killing may have been
either gang related, or stem m ed from an
person had been injured.
S hortly th e re a fter, o fficers learned that earlier altercation at the address.
Auto Theft Task Force Seeks Suspect
T he
P o rtla n d
P o lic e
B u reau 's A uto T heft Task
Force, in cooperation with
Crime Stoppers, is asking for
your help in locating and ap
prehending JacobGilbert Bowe.
A felony no-bail arrest war
rant charges Bowe with unau
thorized use of a motor vehicle.
The task force also wants to
question him in connection with
James Gilbert Bowe
a number of other stolen ve
hicles.
Bowe is a 21 -year old white
male with a date o f birth of June
11, 1981. He is 6 feet tall and
w eig h s a p p ro x im a te ly 150
pounds with blond hair and blue
eyes. He has “W S” tattooed on
his right leg, “CRIP" tattooed on
his left leg, and three dots tat
tooed on his right hand.
Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward o f up to $1,000fo r information, reported to Crime
Stoppers, that leads to an arrest in this case, or any unsolvedfelony crime, any you need not
give your name. Call Crime Stoppers at 503-823-HELP.
FBI Tackles Child Porn Undercover
(AP) — The FBI in Oregon has begun an
undercover operation in cyberspace to expose
child pomographers and sexual predators.
FBI officials will be logging into chat rooms and
pretending to be children, to hook a sexual preda
tor and curb an epidemic of child pornography.
The start of the Innocent Images Task Force
in Oregon comes after the state Supreme Court
adopted new rules allowing lawyers to work in
undercover investigations.
The FBI estimates that one in five children
receive sexual solicitations online.
Insurance Agent Charged with Fraud
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A V ancouver insurance agent has been
charged with 18 counts o f theft in a fraud scheme
prosecutors estimate cost the Farmers Insur
ance Co. and individual victims $321,000.
Police said Darel Scott M cM ahon's arrest
was the result of an investigation into allega
tions of securities fraud and theft while working
as an insurance agent for Farmers.
The company was alerted to the possibility of
fraud and theft when a customer with a question
about an annuity type investment of $97,900
discovered the account was never established.
Authorities said Farmers responded immedi
ately with a group of auditors and investigators
descending on M cM ahon's Mill Plain office
seizing records, documents, computers and data.
I