Two men arrested in NE Bend drug case

A Bend police detective watching two suspicious men twice get in and out of a pickup in a northeast Bend parking lot Thursday soon learned the vehicle had been stolen. Police arrested the men, finding both had heroin in their possession and one had methamphetamine, officers said Friday.

The detective, not in a uniform and sitting in an unmarked city car, spotted the two men around 12:30 p.m. Thursday in the parking lot of Borden’s Corner at 62080 NE Dean Swift Road, said Sgt. Nick Parker.

Parker said the detective saw the two men change directions in the parking lot, then get into and out of a 1993 red Toyota pickup on two occasions “for no apparent reason,” Parker said.

The detective checked the pickup’s registration and learned it had been reported stolen in Vancouver, Wash. on Oct. 17, the sergeant said.

The detective, helped by several officers called to the scene, contacted the two men as they walked away from the parking lot and pickup. Both were arrested without incident, Parker said.

The men were identified as Matthew Louis Collins, 48, of Bend, and Jeffery Clarke Williams, 51, of Portland.

Williams had an outstanding felony warrant for violating his parole conditions, Parker said. He remained lodged in the Deschutes County Jail on Friday, held without bail on the parole violation, and also facing charges of unauthorized use of a vehicle, drug possession and delivery, and supplying contraband.

Collins was booked on charges of unauthorized use of a vehicle and heroin possession. A jail officer said he was released Thursday night after posting 10 percent of his $15,000 bail.

Police also identified Collins’ residence and began surveillance while a search warrant was obtained. A raid on the home Thursday night turned up vehicle paperwork on the stolen pickup, tools to aid in car theft and a 9 mm handgun, Parker said.

More follow-up will occur before any changes are brought in relation to the seized gun, the sergeant said.