Over drinks with his alleged accomplice Saturday night, an off-duty Portland firefighter decided to “teach a lesson’' to a man who he had learned reportedly burglarized the marijuana dispensary he owned, according to police, prosecutors and state records.
So Douglas L. Bourland, 46, and Hong Dieu Lee, 42, drove to downtown Portland to find the alleged burglar, located him outside Ruth’s Chris Steak House, where Lee pistol-whipped the man and forced him into the black Range Rover that Bourland was driving, a probable cause affidavit says.
Bourland, together with Lee and co-defendant Edward Sherman SImmons, 24, then took their abductee to a marijuana farm in Estacada, where they hid him in a storage container, deputy district attorney Kate Molina wrote in the affidavit filed in court Monday.
Friends of the man kidnapped, who saw him forced into the Range Rover outside the steak house, called the victim’s father to tell him his son had been abducted.
Meanwhile, an Uber driver had called police at 10:39 p.m. Saturday and reported seeing a man forced at gunpoint into a black Range Rover near Southwest Taylor Street and Broadway. The man being forced into the SUV unsuccessfully tried to brace himself against the door frame to avoid being pushed inside the vehicle, the Uber driver told police, according to the affidavit.
The Uber driver followed the Range Rover to South Harbor Drive. It had no license plate but the Uber driver took a photo of the SUV and gave it to police, Molina wrote in the affidavit.
Friends of the kidnapped victim told police they had burglarized the Oregon Hemp House about a week earlier and stole marijuana from the business.
Police went to the marijuana business at 6767 South Macadam Ave. Saturday night. About 20 minutes after an officer arrived at the location, he spotted a black Range Rover that resembled the suspect vehicle driving a block north of the Oregon Hemp House and stopped it.
The victim of the alleged kidnapping was not inside the SUV, but police found a gun on the floorboard of the front passenger seat and blood on the inside of the rear driver’s side door, the affidavit said.
The Uber driver and the victim’s friends confirmed that the occupants of the stopped Range Rover were involved in the abduction, Molina wrote in the affidavit.
Police searched inside Oregon Hemp House for the man abducted but didn’t find him there either, according to the affidavit.
Lee, when interviewed by two Portland police detectives, said that Bourland had learned that a man had recently burglarized his business and had stolen marijuana, according to the affidavit.
While drinking with Bourland Saturday night, Lee said he and Bourland decided to teach the alleged burglary suspect a lesson, according to the affidavit. Working with Simmons, Bourland drove Lee to downtown to find the alleged burglar, the affidavit said.
Lee said it was his idea to put the victim in a storage container overnight at a pot farm in Estacada, Molina wrote. The plan was to remove him the next morning and then force him to lead them to the marijuana he had stolen, Lee told police, according to the affidavit. Lee said he fired his gun once while they were at the farm in Estacada.
Lee also provided police with the address of the farm, where police found the victim, Molina wrote in the affidavit.
The victim apparently had some connection to Simmons who he referred to as “40,” the victim’s friends told police. While they were at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, the victim ordered a steak to go for his friend “40,” who came to the restaurant to pick it up. As the group of friends left the restaurant, the Range Rover pulled up and Simmons, or “40,” prevented them from interfering with the kidnapping and then got into the Range Rover himself, the friends told police.
State business records show the Oregon Hemp House on South Macadam Avenue registered as a limited liability corporation in May 2020, and Bourland was listed as the owner.
Bourland faces three counts of first-degree kidnapping. He’s a 14-year veteran of Portland Fire & Rescue who most recently worked at a Southeast Portland fire station but was on leave from his job for unspecified reasons at the time of the alleged crime.
A woman who lives with him in Happy Valley and also is listed as an owner of the Hemp House on Monday posted 10 percent, or $75,000 of Bourland’s $750,000 bond, according to court records. He is due back in court on Wednesday to be arraigned on the allegations, according to court records.
All three defendants are accused of three counts of first-degree kidnapping. Dieu Lee also is charged with second-degree assault and unlawful use of a weapon. As of Tuesday morning, only Bourland had bailed out of jail.
Records show that Bourland in 2017 was listed as the president of a different business called Fire Cannabis, Inc.
In a separate action, the city of Portland took to Bourland to court in 2018 to try to recoup about $12,800 in disability benefits after denying a stress claim he had filed with the Portland Fire and Police Disability and Retirement Fund, according to court records.
