PPB announces drug arrest of store owner near North Portland’s Dawson Park

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Portland police and other city officials held a news conference Friday morning, updating the public on an arrest which they say will have a “long-lasting impact” on the community near Dawson Park.

The North Portland park has been a hotspot for violence. In the past two years, there have been eight shootings less than a block away from the park with three people shot and killed in past years.

In March 2024, community members came forward with allegations of criminal behavior associated with the Stop N Go Mini Mart on North Williams Avenue, across the street from Dawson Park.

After PPB partnered with other agencies to launch a year-long investigation, they executed a search warrant on the convenience store on Mar. 3.

It was during the search that police said they seized a “significant amount” of cocaine, fentanyl, heroin, two guns (one of them stolen), multiple replica firearms, $6,600 in cash, several digital scales covered in “suspected drug residue” and a box of razor blades.

Shortly before the execution of the search warrant, PPB’s Mike Benner said officers arrested store owner 43-year-old Donald Sharma, of Beaverton, during a traffic stop conducted in the area. Sharma’s arrest was first reported by Willamette Week.

Court documents show that when police gave Sharma the warrant, he reportedly said, “Someone must have been snitching.”

He was lodged in the Multnomah County Detention Center on numerous drug charges.

According to Benner, detectives believe the trafficking of drugs in and out of the store has been a factor in the “open air” drug market at Dawson Park as well as some of the shootings in the area.

“Investigators are confident this case will have a positive impact, a long-lasting impact on the Eliot neighborhood and this greater community,” he added.

Anyone with information about the case is encouraged to contact Portland police.

Watch the full press conference in the video below.