PORTLAND, Ore. — A former firefighter with Portland Fire & Rescue will spend eight years in prison for kidnapping a man and locking him in a storage container in 2021.
A judge sentenced 48-year-old Douglas Bourland Friday morning. In March, a Multnomah County jury found him guilty on two counts of first-degree kidnapping.
In August 2021, Bourland and two other men forced 22-year-old Colby Fleishman at gunpoint into a black Range Rover outside Ruth's Steakhouse in downtown Portland. Fleishman had been eating at the restaurant with a group of friends. An Uber driver witnessed the kidnapping, called 911, and provided a description of the vehicle and the suspects, court documents say.
Bourland and the men believed Fleishman had stolen tens of thousands of dollars' worth of marijuana from Oregon Hemp House. According to one of Bourland's associates, Bourland had wanted to "teach a lesson" to Fleishman, court documents say. They drove Fleishman to a cannabis farm in Estacada and locked him inside a storage container.
Portland police were able to track down Bourland and the two men and arrested them. The next morning, police officers found Fleishman at the cannabis farm after one of Bourland's associates gave them the address.
Bourland, who had worked for Portland Fire & Rescue, was put on administrative leave. He was terminated from the agency following his sentencing.
He declined to make a statement in court on Friday. The judge allowed him to say goodbye to family members that were in the courtroom. After he is released from prison, Bourland will also serve three years of probation.