The staging area for law enforcement responding to the scene in Gales Creek on October 28, 2021. Photo: Chas Hundley
Update, 10:15 p.m. Thursday
The Washington County Sherriff’s Office said in a press release issued Thursday night that their search of the property located at 55920 NW Wilson River Highway had been concluded. Damion Clowdus, the suspect in Thursday morning’s hit-and-run crash was not located and remains at large.
Two other people—out of eight people at the property—were arrested on outstanding arrest warrants. Carolyn Allen, 62, and Kyler Pullins, 21, were lodged in the Washington County Jail in Hillsboro Thursday night.
After the county’s Tactical Negotiations Team completed their search, investigators searched the property, seeking evidence related to drug trafficking and unlawful possession of a firearm, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office said.
Anyone with information regarding Clowdus’ location was asked to call non-emergency dispatch at 503-629-0111.
Original story below:
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office said that the driver of a pickup truck that crashed in Gales Creek fled to a nearby home, where deputies believe the occupants are involved in drug trafficking and have firearms, leading to a search warrant being issued.
According to a press release issued by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office Thursday evening, deputies responded to a rollover crash on Gales Creek Road between Our Lane and Balm Grove Loop around 9:30 a.m. Thursday morning.
There, deputies discovered an unoccupied 1993 Toyota pickup. Two residences had property damage as a result of the crash.
Witnesses to the crash and evidence at the scene led deputies to believe the driver was 36-year-old Damion Clowdus, and they also believed that Clowdus had fled to a nearby home on Highway 6 near the Gales Creek Shell station.
That home is a known spot to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office; the law enforcement agency noted that current residents at the home are believed to be in possession of firearms, and involved in drug trafficking.
“Deputies believe they have located the suspect and are actively attempting to contact them,” said Washington County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Sgt. Danny DiPietro in an email to this newspaper sent around 12:15 p.m. concerning the initial hit-and-run.
Around 1 p.m., Washington County’s Tactical Negotiations Team—a SWAT-like unit— rolled through downtown Gales Creek with sirens blaring. More than two dozen law enforcement vehicles staged at the Junction of Highway 6 and 8, closing the eastbound ramp onto Highway 8 from highway 6, but leaving both highways open to traffic.
Washington County’s Tactical Negotiations Team drives through downtown Gales Creek on Thursday, October 28, 2021. Photo: Chas Hundley
Washington County’s Tactical Negotiations Team drives through downtown Gales Creek on Thursday, October 28, 2021. Photo: Chas Hundley
Washington County’s Tactical Negotiations Team drives through downtown Gales Creek on Thursday, October 28, 2021. Photo: Chas Hundley
In a phone call around 1:30 p.m., a person who wished to remain unnamed that lives in the area said that a house west of the junction near the Shell station had numerous law enforcement vehicles at the site.
“Police Activity in the Area. Use Caution,” read a notice from the Oregon Department of Transportation. A traffic camera at the intersection showed what had become a staging area for police vehicles until the camera suddenly stopped working Thursday afternoon around 4:30 p.m.
An image from the traffic camera at the junction of Highway 6 and 8 on October 28, 2021
A search warrant was granted shortly before 2 p.m. by a Washington County judge.
“Due to the information related to narcotics distribution, firearms known to be in the home, and the criminal history of additional occupants believed to be in the house, the Tactical Negotiations Team was brought in to serve the search warrant,” the Washington County Sheriff’s Office said.
According to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, the search of the home, property, and outbuildings is still underway; indeed, this newspaper witnessed what is likely much needed reinforcements in the form of a port-a-potty headed to the scene just after 6 p.m. Thursday evening.
A Washington County Sheriff’s Office vehicle tows a port-a-potty to the scene in Gales Creek on October 28, 2021. Photo: Chas Hundley
The Tactical Negotiations Team is made up of Sheriff’s Office deputies and several other area law enforcement agencies and first responders, including the Hillsboro Police Department, Beaverton Police Department, Tualatin Police Department, and medics from Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue.
Chas Hundley is the editor of the Banks Post and sister news publications the Gales Creek Journal and the Salmonberry Magazine. He grew up in Gales Creek and has a cat.
