HILLSBORO, Ore.-
On November 28, 2022, Washington County Circuit Judge Oscar Garcia sentenced Marcus Esa Paul, age 25, to 110 months in prison for his earlier convictions for Kidnapping, Criminal Mistreatment, and Unauthorized Use of a Vehicle. Departing upward from the presumptive sentence, the judge cited the aggravated nature of the case and the vulnerability of the child victim. The victim’s parents attended the sentencing hearing and made a statement to the court.
Mr. Paul will be supervised for three years of post-prison supervision when eventually released. He will be transferred immediately to the Oregon Department of Corrections to begin serving his sentence.
Original information:
On September 30, 2022, a Washington County jury found Marcus Esa Paul, age 25, guilty of all charges following a four-day trial. Mr. Paul was convicted of Kidnapping in the Second Degree, three counts of Criminal Mistreatment in the First Degree and Unauthorized Use of a Vehicle.
The incident began at 6:30 AM on Wednesday, July 27, 2022, in the city of Tualatin. The victim’s father was picking up a dog at Oregon Dog Rescue on SW Nyberg Rd. As he stood near his minivan, Mr. Paul jumped inside the vehicle and drove away. The victim’s 9-month-old son was in a car seat in the van. Mr. Paul sped away, eventually onto Interstate 205. He exited the freeway in Oregon City and looked for a place to leave the child. He found a relatively remote section of a residential area and abandoned the baby on the ground behind a guardrail, near the edge of a steep slope. He then continued northbound on I-205, as police tracked him using cell phone technology. Mr. Paul left the minivan at a location off NE Prescott St. known by police for stolen car transactions and fled on foot across rush-hour traffic on the I-205 freeway. He attempted to hide underneath several bags of another person’s belongings on the Parkrose MAX platform, but he was soon apprehended by pursuing Portland and Tualatin Police officers.
A citizen who had been walking her dog in Oregon City found the infant in the brush and called 911. The child was uninjured.
This investigation was a collaboration between the Tualatin Police, the Portland Police Bureau, and the Oregon City Police Department. The DA’s office would like to acknowledge the excellent work by all agencies.