PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) – Police have arrested a 29-year-old man accused of using a blowtorch to break into more than 20 food carts and small businesses across Portland’s inner neighborhoods.
Theodore Cody Jackson was taken into custody Tuesday afternoon near Southeast Insley Street and Southeast 19th Avenue, according to the Portland Police Bureau. Officers reported finding tools used for break-ins in Jackson’s possession before booking him into the Multnomah County Detention Center on dozens of charges, including first- and second-degree burglary, criminal mischief, and theft.
Investigators said the series of break-ins began in early May, with multiple business owners reporting substantial property damage and stolen goods totaling tens of thousands of dollars. Several food carts, including locations at the Belmont cart pod, were broken into multiple times.
Jackson had previously been arrested in June by officers with the Milwaukie Police Department, prompting a months-long joint investigation involving the Portland Police Bureau, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office, and the Portland Bureau of Transportation…