



Paul Allen Ropp and his two alleged accomplices had plotted to rob several businesses because they needed "revenue'' and "capital'' to get a start in life, one of the trio told Portland police, according to court records.

Instead, the three sit in jail, accused of plotting several robberies and an abduction before they stole more than 20 ballistic vests and other gear early Wednesday from Blumenthal Uniform & Supply store and led police on a chase that ended with a shootout with two officers, according to a probable cause affidavit filed Monday.

Co-defendant Steven Jeffrey Young, 20, told police that he and Ropp, 20, first talked of ripping off an armored car or a bank, but decided instead to start with more "realistic targets,'' the affidavit said. Young and Ropp, who had attended high school together in The Dalles, thought they might need some help, and decided to recruit Jemaell D. Riley, 25, who was attending Portland State University with Ropp, according to the affidavit. The trio researched businesses to hit on Riley's computer in his apartment near PSU, the affidavit said.

They started by breaking into cars at the Comcast depot on Northeast Sandy Boulevard, stealing Comcast uniforms and other items. They planned to use the stolen uniforms as disguises for future criminal endeavors, prosecutor Christopher Ramras wrote in the affidavit.

Their next target? A T-Mobile store in Portland, which they staked out several times to learn when employees locked up the store. They sat in cars in the lot outside the business, guns in their vehicle, and thought of forcing the last employee to leave back into the store to open the business safe, Young and Riley told police.

But the trio was forced to scrap the plan when other people who could become potential witnesses were in the area, the affidavit said.

The trio planned to rob Affordable Jewelry & Precious Metals store, which has locations in downtown and southeast Portland, Tigard and Vancouver, and abduct co-owner Dennis Johnson as he walked to his car at the end of the work day. Their plan was to take the owner to several of the business sites and force him to open the safes, Young and Riley told investigators in separate interviews, according to the affidavit.

One day, the trio had set off smoke bombs in the precious metals store's parking garage "to create confusion,'' Ramras wrote in the affidavit. They spotted the target of their planned abduction get out of an elevator, but also in the elevator were two parents and a child. The trio decided to abort their plan, because "the family would witness what they're doing,'' Ramras wrote.

Next came Blumenthal Uniforms & Equipment. The three accused had planned to rob the store after it had closed Tuesday night. They tried to pry open a back door with a crow bar Young had stolen from a nearby Fred Meyer store, but the store's alarm was activated at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The three ran into a white Suburban and drove across Southwest Barbur Boulevard, and watched to see how long it would take for police to respond to the business alarm, the affidavit said.

Hours later, after police had come and gone from Blumenthal's, the trio returned, and this time got in early Wednesday.

Young and Riley grabbed merchandise as Ropp sat guard outside. Ropp had a walkie-talkie to signal his alleged accomplices should a problem occur, the affidavit said.

A display of sample police badges, more than 20 ballistic vets , uniforms and other gear were stolen from a storeroom at Blumenthal Uniforms & Equipment on Southwest Barbur Boulevard early March 16. Police saw three men leave the store about 2 a.m. Wednesday and get into a white sports utility vehicle.

The three made off with law enforcement uniforms, SWAT-style helmets, 20 or more ballistic vests, some form of smoke or stun grenades, and display of sample badges from a variety of police and fire departments, Ramras wrote in the affidavit.

Young told investigators that Ropp was the ringleader. Young said Ropp had an "authority problem,'' which Young said may have resulted from Ropp getting stopped by police in his hometown for minor offenses, such as possession of marijuana, the affidavit said.

"Mr. Young stated that Mr. Ropp had talked about shooting at police if they tried to stop him during the course of the robberies that they were planning,'' the affidavit said.

Ropp, who police say wounded a Portland police officer and fatally shot a police dog last week in Southwest Portland, and two alleged accomplices were arraigned in Multnomah County Circuit Court Monday.

Portland police said they tied Ropp and his two co-defendants to a weekslong crime spree that culminated in Wednesday's pre-dawn burglary of a Southwest Portland police supply store, a police chase and shootout with two officers.

Police searched the white Suburban the trio had crashed on Southwest Capitol Highway and Lobelia Street early Wednesday after refusing to pull over during a police chase.

Inside were two homemade explosive devices - one which appeared to contain bullets in an explosive powder, the affidavit said. There were also multiple firearms, ballistic vests and ammunition found inside the SUV, police said.

Ropp, who suffered a wound to the face, right side of his head and dog bites, was released from the hospital and booked into the downtown Portland jail on Saturday about 3:30 p.m.

Ropp appeared in court Monday, wearing a green anti-suicide smock on his bare chest. There was a wound beside his right eye, and a white gauze patch on the right side of his head.

He looked down as a defense attorney entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf.

He's accused of attempted aggravated murder, second-degree assault, assault of a law enforcement animal, first-degree aggravated animal abuse, two counts of unlawful possession of a destructive device, unlawful possession and use of a firearm, two counts of first-degree burglary, attempt to elude police, attempted first-degree robbery, conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery, menacing, criminal conspiracy to commit first-degree burglary, conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery with a firearm, attempted first-degree kidnapping, and criminal conspiracy to commit first-degree kidnapping.

Assault of a law enforcement animal is a Class C felony, punishable by either three years of probation and up to 90 days in jail, or a prison sentence of between 10 and 30 months, depending on the offender's criminal history.

His co-defendants, Young and Riley, also were arraigned on new allegations Monday.

Riley, who was injured the crash of the SUV, was arraigned via video from Inverness Jail. He was in a wheelchair Monday, and his right arm was immobilized in a sling.

Young and Riley pleaded not guilty to first-degree burglary, criminal conspiracy to commit first-degree burglary, conspiracy to commit first-degree robbery, attempted first-degree robbery, attempted first-degree kidnapping, conspiracy to commit first-degree kidnapping, unlawful entry into a motor vehicle, unlawful use of a weapon and two counts of unlawful possession of a destructive device.

Ropp's aunt, among several relatives who attended Friday's arraignment, said the allegations are "360 degrees'' opposite of the man they know.

--Maxine Bernstein