Five arrested in pair of Bend drug raids

A pair of drug raids Thursday afternoon on a southeast Bend motel room and a northeast Bend apartment led to five arrests and the seizure of various drugs, cash and a handgun, Central Oregon drug agents said.

Wrapping up an investigation that took several months, the Central Oregon Drug Enforcement Team (CODE) executed two drug-related search warrants, first around 1:45 p.m. at a room at the Cascade Lodge Motel on Southeast Third Street and around 4:40 p.m. at an apartment at the Mountain Glen Townhomes on Northeast Butler Market Road, said Bend police Lt. Nick Parker.

They seized more than 1.5 ounces of heroin, methamphetamine, Xanax pills, cash and a handgun, he said.

At the motel room, Kristina Louise Paulsen, a 36-year-old transient, and Tyler Paul Valdez, 31, of Portland were taken into custody and booked into the Deschutes County Jail on drug possession, manufacture and delivery charges, as well as frequenting a place where drugs are used, Parker said. Paulsen also was held on a probation violation.

Later, CODE Team detectives and Bend police officers were executing the related search warrant at Mountain Glen Townhomes when Bend residents Jeremy Tyler Hood, 32, David Bradley Mershon, 35, and Christopher Jason Aviles, 27, were seen leaving the apartment and detained while the raid was conducted, Parker said.

Marshon and Hood were charged with heroin possession, while Mershon also was charged with being a felon in possession of a restricted weapon. Hood was held on a probation violation and Aviles on a parole violation.