SE Bend Drug Deal Leads to Raid, Four Arrests

A drug deal near a southeast Bend Chinese restaurant Friday afternoon led to a traffic stop, the arrest of four Bend residents, a raid on a Deschutes River Woods home and the seizure of methamphetamine worth nearly $10,000, police said Saturday.

One of the suspects, later identified as a suspected illegal alien, tried twice to run, once running across Third Street while handcuffed, but was taken into custody both times, officers said. Another suspect?s three children were placed with a family member.

It all began when a Bend police officer observed a drug deal involving two men and a woman around 1:30 p.m. Friday in the area of the Hong Kong Restaurant at 530 SE Third St., said Sgt. Todd Fletcher.

One man and woman left in a black 1997 Dodge Dakota pickup, which the officer followed and pulled over near the corner of Northeast Third Street and Emerson Avenue, Fletcher said.

The driver, Jose ?Carolos? Ignacio Valenzuela Pineda, 26, was accompanied by Heather May Cordier, 22, Fletcher said. During the stop, the officer noticed Valenzuela-Pineda was trying to conceal a bulky item in his pants, Fletcher said. The officer patted him down and found ?a significant quantity? of methamphetamine, the sergeant said.

The second man seen during the drug deal, identified as Joseph Michael Robbins, 29, was contacted by another officer, found to possess meth and taken into custody, Fletcher said.

Valenzuela-Pineda was arrested after being found to be in possession of more than seven ounces of methamphetamine and more than $4,100 in cash, Fletcher said.

As the officer was taking Valenzuela-Pineda into custody, he tried to pull away and run, but was taken into custody without injury, Fletcher said.

Then, as the officer was taking Valenzuela-Pineda to his patrol car, the man suddenly pulled away and ran across Third Street while handcuffed, Fletcher said. The officer chased the man down and again took him into custody, with no injuries reported.

Cordier was taken into custody without incident on a meth possession charge.

Shortly after 9 p.m., officers served a search warrant at a home at 19002 Baker Road in Deschutes River Woods where Valenzuela-Pineda lived with Micha Lynn Warren, 24, Fletcher said.

No one was home at the time, and officers found methamphetamine and paraphernalia inside the home, he said.

While officers were searching the home, Warren returned, accompanied by her three children. She was taken into custody, while the Oregon Department of Human Services was contacted and arrangements were made for a family member to care for the children.

All four suspects remained in the Deschutes County Jail on Saturday.

Valenzuela-Pineda was held on $40,000 bail, facing drug possession and manufacturing charges, conspiracy to deliver, resisting arrest and third-degree escape, Fletcher said. A jail officer said he was being held for federal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents as a suspected illegal immigrant.

Warren was held on $25,000 bail, also facing meth possession and conspiracy to deliver charges, as well as frequenting a palce where drugs are used and three counts of endangering the welfare of a minor.

Cordier was held on $15,000 bail, facing meth possession and conspiracy to deliver charges. Robbins was held on $5,000 bail for a meth possession charge, but without bail on a probation violation.