Photo: File/TriMet
On July 20, 2020 at about 7:20 p.m. Portland Police and Transit officers responded to the area of N. Interstate Avenue and N. Lombard Street following the report of man carrying a gun on a Tri Met bus and pointing at the driver.
Witnesses kept responding officers updated as the man left the bus and walked to a nearby grocery store. Officers arrived and eventually located the man inside the Fred Meyer store where they took him into custody. He was identified as 31 year old Joaunte Laray Brister. Brister was armed with a realistic looking BB gun pistol.
During the investigation officers determined Brister was the suspect in a robbery reported at about 3:10 p.m. at the Lloyd Center Macys where he also displayed a gun.
Assistant Chief Andrew Shearer said, "Portland and Transit police officers did an excellent job safely arresting Brister for menacing a bus driver and quickly connected him to a recent robbery."
Officers coordinated with detectives and booked Brister into the Multnomah County Detention Center on charges of Robbery II, Interfering with Public Transportation, Menacing and Disorderly Conduct.
If anyone has information about the robbery or menacing on the bus and has not been contacted by investigators, they are asked to call PPB's Detective Division at (503)-823-0400