Skateboarding passersby helps capture burglary suspect
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PORTLAND, Oregon (KPTV) — Police say neighbors in a north Portland neighborhood helped them catch a burglar with a lengthy criminal history.
Neighbors say the series of events took place Sunday while it was still daylight. Matt Kurowski says it started at his neighbor’s house.
“He came through our neighbors’ yard there. He took their barbecue propane tank and a gas can, then came into our yard and took our shovel and ditched his gas can,” Kurowski said.
He said the man then went next door to try and hide in the garage, but the homeowners chased him out.
Kurowski said that’s when several men passing by on skateboards helped to capture the burglar.
“One of them used their skateboard to trip him up and detain him and hold him until police came,” said Kurowski.
Police say the suspected burglar is 29-year-old Anthony Gates.
According to court documents, Gates is being charged with several counts of burglary as well as possession of a stolen motor vehicle. Those documents show Gates has been previously convicted of three felonies and some misdemeanors.
Court documents also show that Gates has three current cases that have not been resolved in court yet from the months of January, February and March. In those cases, Gates faces a slew of charges, including multiple counts of being in possession of a stolen vehicle, identity theft and felon in possession of a firearm, amongst other charges.
Kurowski says he’s just thankful that the young men were there to stop the burglar.
“I feel like a lot of young people are getting bad raps these days, you know like, it was nice to hear that some kids took it upon themselves to stop the guy and using a skateboard was a clever idea,” he said.
Police say they are now investigating whether Gates is tied to even more cases.
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