Gresham man arrested on drug, assault charges

Officials find 100-plant marijuana grow on Mount Hood

By Mara Stine

The Gresham Outlook, Jan 29, 2010, Updated Feb 1, 2010 (2 Reader comments)

Piers Theodore Baker

Contributed photo

A Gresham man is behind bars facing allegations of growing pot and trying to run down a forest service officer stemming from an incident east of Mount Hood last summer.

United States Magistrate Judge Dennis J. Hubel on Tuesday Jan. 26, ordered Piers Theodore Baker, 57, of Gresham be detained until his trial on March 30, said Gerri Badden, a U.S. Attorney’s Office spokeswoman.

A federal grand jury recently indicted Baker on charges of manufacturing more than 100 marijuana plants and using a motor vehicle to assault a U.S. Forest Service officer. He was arrested on Monday, Jan. 25, and is being held at the Multnomah County Detention Center without bail.

According to court documents, two forest service officers tried to arrest Baker as he left a marijuana grow operation outside of Friend, Ore., about 30 miles east of Mount Hood.

Baker tried to take off in his pickup, accelerated while steering toward one of the forest officers, who was on foot near a ledge. The officer lost his footing. Meanwhile, fearing Baker would run the officer over, both officers opened fire on Baker’s truck.

Baker was shot in the leg and surrendered. Neither officer was seriously injured.

If convicted on the drug charge, Backer faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in federal prison and a maximum of life in prison. The maximum sentence for assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon is 25 years in federal prison.

The U.S. Forest Service, The Dalles and Gresham police departments, The Wasco County Sheriff’s Office and District Attorney’s Office and the Internal Revenue Service conducted the investigation.

Prosecutors also hope to seize property in Brightwood that Baker allegedly used to grow marijuana.

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