RAID YIELDS GUNS, AMMUNITION, DRUG PARAPHERNALIA

Neighbors On North Greeley Are Awakened By The Police Operation, In Which A
Man Is Arrested

Police raided a North Portland home early Thursday, seizing nine guns,
thousands of rounds of ammunition and drug paraphernalia before leading
away one man who is accused of firing a gun inside the house earlier this
month.

Neighbors, who were awakened by the 5:30 a.m. police operation, looked on
with satisfaction, hoping that the arrest would put an end to the gunshots,
loud parties and constant car traffic at the house.

"They've been nothing but trouble," said Helen Andrews, who lives across
the street from the house on the 7000 block of North Greeley Avenue. "I
hope they move them out of here."

Leroy Sylvester Long, 25, of 7104 N. Greeley Ave., was roused from sleep
and taken into custody. He was arrested on suspicion of unlawful use of a
firearm, unlawful possession of a sawed-off shotgun and conspiracy to
commit first-degree distribution of a controlled substance, Lt. Steve
Hollingsworth said. Long was being held Thursday in the Justice Center jail
in lieu of $60,000 bail.

North Precinct police are continuing to investigate whether Long was
involved in burglaries along his street. Several neighbors said they had
aluminum siding, planters and other items stolen from outside their homes
within the past year.

Police were called to the house Dec. 6 on a report of a fight.

Long was assaulted that night during a party in his home and allegedly
fired nine shots into the ceiling to scare off his attackers, police said.
Officers went to the house but were not granted permission to enter the
home that evening, Hollingsworth said.

Portland police from the Youth Gun Anti-Violence Task Force obtained a
warrant and surrounded the single-family rental home early Thursday with
members of the police Special Emergency Reaction Team. Using a loudspeaker,
they announced they had a warrant to search the house, awakening Long and
his mother and father, Hollingsworth said.

Police found a loaded AK-47 rifle an the kitchen and other guns in tong's
bedroom. Among the weapons seized were two .40-caliber semiautomatic
handguns, a .22-caliber handgun, a sawed-off shotgun, a 12 gauge shotgun
and three rifles, Hollingsworth said.

Portland firefighters also were called to help police tear through the
dining room ceiling, where they found several bullets they think lodged
there in the Dec. 6 shooting, Hollingsworth said.

"This has been a chronic problem location, a thorn in the neighborhood," he
said.

Checked-by: Richard Lake