Portland teens, 13 and 15, held on armed robbery charge

On Sunday April 15, 2012, at approximately 2:45 p.m., Portland Police officers assigned to East Precinct responded to the report of an armed robbery on the playground of Vestal School, located at Northeast 82nd Avenue and Everett Street.

Officers arriving in the area were flagged down by a group of people at Northeast 81st and Glisan who were pointing to the suspects who were walking northbound on 81st from Glisan. Officers approached the suspects and took them into custody.

The suspects were identified as a 13-year-old female and a 15-year-old male.

Officers spoke with the victim, 34-year-old Shawna Hale of Southeast Portland, who told officers that she was sitting in the playground area of Vestal School as her car was getting cleaned out at a neighboring car wash. The two suspects approached her from behind and the female pointed a gun at her and demanded money. The victim gave the suspects her purse and the suspects ran away towards 81st Avenue.

The victim chased the two suspects towards Glisan Street then lost sight of them and called 9-1-1.

Two men in the neighborhood attempted to stop the suspects and got into a physical confrontation with them prior to the suspects walking away and later being arrested by police.

Officers recovered the gun, which turned out to be a BB gun replica of a handgun. Officers also recovered the victim’s purse and contents.

Both suspects were taken to the Donald E. Long Juvenile Detention Home on robbery charges.