Portland firefighter denies kidnapping allegations

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PORTLAND A Portland firefighter denies kidnapping a man last weekend and is eager to prove his innocence, his lawyer said Wednesday.

Douglas Lee Bourland was arraigned in Multnomah County Circuit Court on Wednesday on three counts of first-degree kidnapping, The Oregonian / OregonLive reported.

He was ordered to have no contact with his two co-defendants as well as with the man they are accused of forcing at gunpoint into a black Range Rover from outside from a downtown Portland restaurant.

According to a probable cause affidavit, the men are charged with kidnapping the man because they believed he robbed the Oregon Hemp House, a marijuana business Bourland opened last year. Bourlands’ girlfriend is listed as the owner and court records show she posted $ 75,000 of her $ 750,000 bond.

Bourland and his alleged accomplices took the victim to a marijuana farm in Estacada and left him in a storage unit, Assistant District Attorney Kate Molina said in the affidavit.

An Uber driver called police and said he saw a man later identified as Hong Dieu Lee holding a gun to force a man into the SUV, according to the affidavit.

Police stopped the Range Rover and arrested Bourland, Lee, 42, and Edward Sherman Simmons, 24. Lee and Simmons also posted bail. It was not immediately clear whether they had lawyers to comment on their cases.

Lee told detectives, according to the affidavit, that he and Bourland had devised the plan to teach the burglar a lesson, according to the affidavit. Police located the man on Sunday after Lee told them the location, according to the affidavit.

Bourland, a 14-year member of the Portland Fire & Rescue Bureau, was on leave at the time of his arrest. Authorities will not say why he was on leave.

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