Redmond felon arrested on weapons, drug charges

(Update: Bail reduced at arraignment)

Central Oregon’s drug agents and SWAT team stopped and arrested a Redmond felon Tuesday night on Highway 126. They said they found a handgun in the driver’s side door and drugs in his pickup and another gun and drug-related evidence in a later raid of his house.

The Central Oregon Drug Enforcement Team, assisted by the Central Oregon Emergency Response Team (CERT) stopped the Dodge pickup driven by Daniel David Olano, 22, on Highway 126 west of Redmond around 9:30 p.m., Lt. Brian Kindel said.

Based on the results of a short-term CODE Team investigation, a judge granted a search warrant for Olano, his vehicle and home, Kindel said.

Due to his prior history involving guns and detectives’ knowledge he’s known to be carrying firearms, CERT assisted in stopping Olano, who was alone in the pickup. A loaded semi-automatic gun was found in the driver’s side door, accessible to Olano, and “commercial quantities” of methamphetamine and “user amounts” of heroin also were in the car, Kindel said.

Around 10:45 p.m., CODE Team detectives and CERT members raided Olano’s house in the 800 block of Northwest 35th Street, Kindel said.

Another gun was seized there, linked to Olano’s control and possession, the lieutenant said. Other evidence seized included packaging and a scale that supported drug possession, manufacture and distribution charges.

Olano was taken to the Deschutes County Jail in Bend and booked on charges of meth possession, manufacture and distribution, heroin possession and two counts of felon in possession of a firearm. He initially was held on $70,000 bail, which was reduced to $50,000 bail at his arraignment on Wednesday.

Olano was 19 and a Bend resident in January 2016 when police said he was involved in a drug deal gone bad and fired a gun in the air from a car while being pursued by the intended customers wanting their money back.

Court records show he entered an Alford plea on two of the charges, unlawful use of a weapon and meth delivery. An Alford plea means a defendant isn’t admitting guilt, only the likelihood of conviction at trial. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail and three years of probation.

He also entered an Alford plea in early 2017 to a November 2016 charge of fourth-degree assault and received a 60-day jail sentence.

In 2016, he entered Alford pleas to first-degree aggravated theft and manufacture of marijuana and was given two years of probation and 30 days in jail. Two more days in jail were added later for violating probation, records show, and he failed to complete an evaluation or recommended treatment program.