PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The man arrested outside a police precinct with what investigators described as an “arsenal” of weapons is now accused of violating the terms of his release agreement by showing up at the house of a federal inspector.
KOIN 6 News has learned that Eric Eugene Crowl was taken into custody by the Multnomah County Department of Community Justice on Monday morning.
In August, a judge ordered Crowl be released from jail and put under house arrest as he awaited trial.
Prior to that order, Crowl’s bail had been set at $1 million. Now that he is back in custody, his bail has been reinstated.
Police and prosecutors describe Crowl as a 39-year-old man who posed a “reasonable” threat to the safety of law enforcement after he was found with a cache of guns and ammo inside his vehicle outside a police station earlier this year.
Over the weekend, Crowl and his family went to a federal inspector’s residence in Southeast Portland, according to newly filed court documents.
The inspector recognized Crowl from a law enforcement safety flyer. Two of the inspector’s friends, who are also federal employees, were at the residence when Crowl and his family showed up.
The three federal employees told Portland police that they noticed Crowl’s “ankles were absent of any bulges or GPS device,” according to court documents. Crowl was reportedly wearing shorts and his ankles “were clearly visible.”
As part of his release condition, Crowl was ordered to wear a GPS monitoring device.
“The Crowl’s were no more than 15 to 20 feet [from the inspector’s] house staring into his garage,” according to court documents.
Crowl and his family were described as “aggressively” staring into the inspector’s open garage and duty vehicle.
When one of the witnesses approached Crowl, he never responded.
“The inspector believed the Crowl’s were acting suspiciously and/or conducting surveillance on his home,” according to court documents.
The Crowl family reportedly left on foot. When PPB responded, they showed the 3 federal employees “a recent photograph” of Crowls and all 3 said they were “positive” that those were the 3 people they saw.
Crowl’s criminal defense attorney, Brian Schmonsees, described the situation as “a complete misunderstanding and misidentification of Crowl.”
“Mr. Crowl was at home, as the court ordered global positioning system data shows, and several witnesses will testify he was nowhere near the location.
Further, Mr. Crowl’s son wasn’t even in the Portland metro area at the time he was allegedly seen with Mr. Crowl.
I have no idea who was chatting with the federal inspector, but it wasn’t Mr. Crowl. Sadly, he sits in a jail cell once again on false charges.” – Brian Schmonsees, criminal defense attorney.
Because of the inspector’s position, KOIN 6 News is not identifying the neighborhood where the incident occurred.
As part of Crowl’s release condition, he was also ordered not to engage in any behavior that could be considered as surveilling law enforcement. At the time of his release, Crowl told the judge he intended to “fully” comply with the court’s order.
Crowl will appear in Multnomah County Circuit Court on Tuesday.
He is charged with one count each of unlawful use of a weapon, a Class C felony and unlawful possession of a firearm, a Class A misdemeanor.
Crowl has since pled not guilty to both charges.
A trial date has not been set.
Filed under: Crime, Editor's Pick, Multnomah County, Portland, Top Video
