CODE Team arrests fentanyl trafficker, 2nd transient after parking lot drug sale; drugs, stolen Lego sets recovered

(Update: Formal charges filed; adding suspects' names)

Passenger in alleged customer's car got out and ran; authorities seek public's help finding him

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Two Bend-area transients were arrested after drug agents witnessed a parking lot drug sale on Bend’s north end Tuesday afternoon. One of their alleged customers ran and is being sought. The pair earlier allegedly stole $750 worth of Legos from a nearby store to sell online.

The Central Oregon Drug Enforcement Team concluded an investigation with the arrest of Timothy Leroy Henkel, 54, and Wyatt James Froome, 30, Sergeant Kent Vander Kamp said.

In recent investigations, CODE detectives identified Henkel as a fentanyl trafficker throughout the Central Oregon area, Vander Kamp said.

During surveillance shortly after 2 p.m. in the parking lot of Home Depot and Sportsman’s Warehouse, drug agents watched Henkel sell drugs to the occupants of a silver Ford Escape.

As the agents approached the group and identified themselves, the car’s driver left the parking lot. As it left, a passenger got out and began running through Highway 97 traffic. He was not located, the sergeant said.

Detectives searched the pair’s gray Jeep and turned up a commercial quantity of fentanyl pills and methamphetamine.

Vander Kamp said they also located $750 worth of Lego toy sets allegedly stolen earlier Tuesday by the pair from the nearby Target store. It was determined they planned to sell the sets through online marketplaces.

Henkel was lodged in the Deschutes County Jail on drug possession and second-degree theft charges, while Froome was lodged on a second-degree theft charge. Both were arraigned Wednesday on initial charges, Henkel on a single Class C felony charge of possessing "substantial quantities" of fentanyl and Froome on the theft charge.

CODE detectives identified the Escape's passenger who ran as Henry Oswaldo Duran, 38 and asked the public to report any information on his whereabouts through non-emergency dispatch at 541-693-6911, in reference to Bend Police Department case number 24-8407.

Vander Kamp said they had not been able to identify the Escape’s driver, but both are facing charges.