ALOHA, Ore. — The Washington County Sheriff's Office arrested eight people in connection with a suspected drug house in Aloha over the weekend. The enforcement mission targeted a house that has generated more than 60 calls for service so far this year, many of them for suspected drug activity, the sheriff's office said.
Neighbors told KGW that the home has long been an issue.
“Well, it’s been pretty bad,” Gary Snow, a neighbor said. Others said they have called police often for the past six months.
“We have been pressing so hard to get something done about this place,” said Ruth Graham, another neighbor.
Deputies and detectives from the Westside Interagency Narcotics Team focused patrols around the house on Friday and Saturday, stopping multiple vehicles, bikes and people if they observed criminal behavior, according to deputies. The house was on 3240 Southwest Thiessen Place in Aloha.
KGW spoke with the man who lives at the home, Christopher Smith. He said there was no raid at his home, although surveillance footage obtained by KGW shows people being arrested outside his doorstep.
Still, Smith said he is being harassed by neighbors and the police.
“The police are on the same side as the people, the other people that live here,” Smith said.
Neighbors said constant activity has made it difficult to sleep. Graham also said drug paraphernalia is common in the neighborhood now.
“I’ve lost sleep," Graham said. "I actually don’t sleep in the place I normally sleep anymore.”
The ages of the people arrested ranged from 28 to 61, and many of them were arrested on warrants stemming from prior charges. One of them ran when police stopped him and was found after bringing in a K9 unit to track him.
The sheriff's office released the following list of people who were arrested, along with their ages, hometowns and why they were arrested:
- Genesis Rachel Silvestre, age 38, of Aloha: felony warrant for a probation violation
- John Kenneth Tapp Jr., age 30, of Beaverton: probation violation
- Adrian Lopez Garcia, age 28, of Forest Grove: two felony warrants for prior charges.
- Brian James Coppinger, age 34, of Aloha: felony warrant after failing to appear on prior charges
- Kenneth Eric Steele, age 61, transient: false information to a police officer, failure to register as a sex offender, and a felony parole violation warrant
- Kylan Scott Simkins, age 54, of Beaverton: misdemeanor driving on a suspended license
- Robert Franklin, age 39, of Beaverton: felony warrant for failure to appear on prior charges, parole violation warrant
- Francis Lamont Jones, age 57, transient: felony warrant for failure to appear on prior charges
Residents with concerns about suspected drug houses or activity can submit anonymous tips online, or call the non-emergency dispatch line at 503-629-0111 if an issue needs more urgent attention, the sheriff's office said.