Blow torch used in Multnomah Village burglaries

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Several businesses in the heart of Multnomah Village are making repairs after break-ins through their front doors, including a suspect who used a blow torch to get in.

The smash-and-grab burglary at Consign Couture happened in June and was caught on surveillance camera. The owner got an alarm notice at 4:30 a.m. and later spotted the video of the suspect using the blow torch to shatter the door. The suspect grabbed high-end clothing and purses.

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Two days later, the jewelry store next door and a retail business across the street had the same type of burglary.

But store owner Tamara Young gives high marks to a Portland police officer who worked a burglary two years ago and made the connection from this video to video of a recent break-in at a nearby storage facility.

“I think because small businesses are still low-hanging fruit, it’s easy to smash-and-grab,” store owner Tamara Young told KOIN 6 News. “It’s easy to just get away with it because they’re not the cases that Portland police has the bandwidth to follow up on, with the detective work to get people arrested for it.”

Police arrested a suspect in the Multnomah neighborhood and said they recovered thousands of dollars of stolen property from several burglaries.

Young said it’s critical for these cases to be prosecuted. And that’s what’s happening, as this case heads to a grand jury soon.