Two Bend 19-year-olds arrested in drive-by shooting
Several bullets were fired through the front door of a northeast Bend apartment late Tuesday night, resulting in no injuries but leading to a traffic stop, two raids and the arrests of two 19-year-old Bend residents on Wednesday, police said.
Police were dispatched just before midnight to a shooting complaint at the Mountain Glen Townhomes at 900 NE Butler Market Road, Sgt. Robert Jones said. Several callers reported hearing gunshots and seeing a gray Ford Ranger speeding away.
Officers found several bullet holes in the apartment’s front door and bullet casings near the residence, Jones said. The two Bend men inside the apartment, 21 and 23, were not injured, he added.
Around 1:30 a.m., an Oregon State Police trooper spotted and stopped a suspect’s pickup in the area of Third Street and Mt. Washington Drive, arresting the driver, Joseph William Triplett.
Triplett was booked into the Deschutes County Jail on charges of cocaine delivery and criminal conspiracy. He remained held Wednesday night on $40,000 bail.
Officers and detectives gathered information and followed up on leads through the night, obtaining video surveillance showing two people in the truck at the time of the shooting, Jones said. They determined the name and location of the second suspect, Blake Riley Simms.
Shortly after 1 p.m. Wednesday, police officers and detectives served a search warrant at a residence in the 1400 block of NE Tucson Way, where they contacted and arrested Simms.
Simms was taken to the Bend police headquarters and later to the county jail, where he was booked on charges of unlawful use of a weapon, reckless endangering, first-degree criminal mischief, menacing and outstanding warrant, as well as the cocaine delivery and criminal conspiracy charges. He was being held late Wednesday on $75,000 bail.
Around 5:20 p.m. Wednesday, detectives also served a search warrant at the victims’ apartment to gather evidence in the case.
The handgun used in the incident has been found and seized, Jones said.
