About a year
ago, Eugene Police’s Street Crimes Unit was created and went into action to
target immediate and acute community safety system issues while working toward
mission-critical enhancements that will need to be addressed through a
longer-term and broader community safety initiative. The eight officers and two
sergeants have become an effective work unit
and together have made a dynamic impact on our community. They continue to do
so, and have today seized a large amount of fentanyl and heroin:
On
April 6, SCU concluded an investigation that they have been working for
the last couple weeks with the help of the Eugene Police Special Investigations
Unit and federal partners at the Drug Enforcement Agency.
Officers performed a traffic stop on two vehicles at the CostCo parking lot, 2828 Chad Drive, after watching the two occupants of one vehicle (Roberto Escalante, age 37, of Springfield, and Alva Santoyo-Gomez, age 31, of Eugene –) selling drugs (later found to be Fentanyl) to a man (Deandre Phillip Hahn, age 25, Vancouver, Washington) in another vehicle. The SCU also very quickly obtained a signed search warrant for Escalante’s vehicles, apartment and storage unit.
In
total SCU seized a Dodge Durango, over two pounds of heroin, almost 6,000
fentanyl pills and over $5,900 in cash. The estimated street value of the
fentanyl pills is around $174,000.
Charges:
Roberto Escalante,
age 37, of Springfield – charged with Possession of Controlled Substance
Heroin, Delivery of Controlled Substance Heroin - Commercial , Possession of
Controlled Substance Schedule 1, Delivery of Controlled Substance Schedule 1 –
Commercial, two counts of Possession of Controlled Substance/Delivery of
Controlled Substance Conspiracy to Commit, three counts of Violation of a
Restraining Order.
Alva Santoyo-Gomez, age
31, of Eugene – charges: Possession of a Controlled Substance/Delivery of a
Controlled Substance – Heroin, two counts of Possession of Controlled
Substance/Delivery of Controlled Substance Conspiracy to Commit
Deandre
Phillip Hahn, age 25, Vancouver, Washington, charges: Possession of Controlled
Substance/Delivery of Controlled Substance – Schedule II
Eugene Police Street Crimes Unit:
The
SCU has been focusing on prolific offenders, who are identified through
intelligence-based policing, public tips and other sources. They have been
proactively responding across the city to quality of life issues as they arise,
using all available resources and partners such as community groups,
neighborhood associations and city services.