Kidnapping, armed robbery suspect arrested after multi-agency search; judge sets bail at first court appearance
Silas Moreau
(Update: Powell makes first court appearance; judge sets bail at $150,000)
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — A Madras man was arrested Thursday and was arraigned on several charges Friday after allegedly kidnapping and robbing a Prineville woman at gunpoint last weekend, Bend Police said.
According to police, officers responded around 4:29 a.m. last Sunday to a report of a kidnapping and robbery. The victim, a 31-year-old Prineville woman, told officers she had been kidnapped and robbed at gunpoint.
Investigators learned that after being released from the Crook County Jail, the woman drove to Madras to meet her friend, Coby Michael Powell, intending to stay with him. Police said that after an altercation between Powell and the victim’s boyfriend, Powell forced the woman into his truck and began driving toward Bend.
During the drive, Powell allegedly held a gun to the victim’s head, took her phone, and threatened to shoot her, police said.
When they arrived at the victim’s boyfriend’s home in Bend, the victim managed to escape from the truck and began screaming for help. Powell then left the area, authorities said. The woman sought help and called police from the 7-Eleven store on Northwest Galveston Avenue.
On Thursday, Bend Police detectives—assisted by Redmond Police and the Central Oregon Emergency Response Team—conducted a traffic stop on Powell after he left his workplace in Redmond. Detectives served search warrants on Powell, his vehicle, and his Madras home.
Police said Powell was arrested and booked into the Deschutes County Jail on suspicion of first-degree robbery, first-degree kidnapping, menacing, coercion, and unlawful use of a weapon. Investigators said all firearms connected to the incident were located and seized.
Court and jail records reviewed by KTVZ News indicate Powell is listing an address on Elkhorn Drive in La Pine.
Asked about that, Bend Police Communications Manager Sheila Miller told us police served a search warrant in Madras at the home Powell was staying at, but he also has lived in Redmond, Madras, La Pine and Bend over the years.
Powell was arraigned Friday afternoon and Deschutes County Circuit Judge Michelle McIver set bail at $150,000, at the request of Deputy District Attorney Lindsay Chenelia. Initial charges include six felonies – first- and second-degree kidnapping, first- and second-degree robbery and coercion, as well as two misdemeanor counts of menacing.
The prosecutor briefly recounted the allegations that involve “multiple Meausre 11 offenses,” with Powell accused of driving the woman to Bend at gunpoint and threatening to kill her and her boyfriend. Two firearms were found in the car, she said.
Judge McIver asked if either victim was in court (or online) and wished to be heard, but neither were.
The judge set arraignment for next Friday on an expected grand jury indictment. McIver also ordered that Powell have no contact with either victim, obey all laws, not possess any firearms or dangerous weapons or ammunition, appear at all future court dates, keep in touch with his attorney and not leave the state without written permission.