Discover what was revealed in court about the security guard who shot a suspected drug dealer – a felon with a gun – in January, at a Centennial neighborhood strip club …

The Portland Police Bureau Mobile Command Center was headquarters for Homicide Division detectives looking into a shooting at the Dream On Saloon, in January.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton

When gunshots were fired in the parking lot of the Dream On Saloon on January 15, at approximately 2:30 a.m., Portland Police Bureau East Precinct officers responded to the night club, soon followed by the Bureau’s Homicide Division.

>> To read our original coverage of this story, CLICK HERE .

An incident among three men in the parking lot ended when 42-year-old Eugene Pharr, Jr., died at the scene, after being shot by the club’s security guard, Francisco Swafford.

It was 42-year-old Eugene Pharr, Jr., who died of gunshot wounds in the incident. PPB-provided DMV image

On May 9, the Multnomah County District Attorney Rod Underhill announced the conclusion of Grand Jury proceedings in this case, which had been held over several months. “A grand jury returned a ‘not a true bill’ regarding the use of force Swafford which resulted in the death of Pharr,” Underhill said.

The Grand Jury’s “not a true bill” decision means that they had determined that no criminal prosecution is warranted for security guard Swafford, and this use of force was a lawful act of self-defense, pursuant to Oregon law.

This man, 49-year-old Henry Lemar McCollum, remains incarcerated, and will face six charges stemming from that evening’s events. MCDC booking photo

Court documents reveal that during the homicide investigation, detectives learned that Pharr and 49-year-old Henry Lemar McCollum had been longtime associates, and that McCollum was a known drug dealer.

It is alleged that McCollum and Pharr, while armed and working together, had approached Swafford as he sat in his vehicle in the Dream On Saloon parking lot that evening.

Underhill also disclosed that, on February 15, a Grand Jury returned a six-count indictment against McCollum. That indictment alleged that, among other crimes that evening, McCollum possessed a firearm, with intent to engage in conduct that made Swafford fear that he would be physically injured as a result.

Furthermore, it is alleged in the February indictment that McCollum was in possession of ten or more grams of methamphetamine.

Instead of the security guard going on trail, McCollum faces numerous charges in Multnomah County District Court.

Thus, McCollum faces charges of one count of unlawful use of a weapon with a firearm, one count of coercion with a firearm, one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, one count of criminal conspiracy to commit unlawful delivery of methamphetamine, one count of unlawful delivery of methamphetamine, and one count of unlawful possession of methamphetamine.

McCollum was arraigned on the indictment on February 21, and remains in custody at Multnomah County Inverness Jail in lieu of $70,000 combined bail. His next court date is scheduled for May 17.

© 2019 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™