Arrest in four-alarm May Apartments fire in Southwest Portland, suspect was being evicted
PORTLAND, Ore. — Police on Thursday arrested a 30-year-old man in a massive fire that destroyed the May Apartments in Southwest Portland last week, accusing him of arson.
Garrett A. Repp lived at the apartment complex at Southwest 14th Avenue and Taylor Street, police said.
The arrest came after police and fire investigators with Portland Fire & Rescue gathered and analyzed evidence and interviewed witnesses.
Repp was booked into the Multnomah County jail, where he faces two counts of first-degree arson, 18 counts of reckless endangering another person and 11 counts of first-degree criminal mischief.
According to court documents, a judge had signed an eviction order for Repp on May 10 due to owing extensive back rent.
The May 16 fire left dozens of people without a home.
There were no reported injuries in the fire.
The fire broke out at about 10:30 a.m. Responding crews helped get people out of the burning structure.
The structure, built around 1910 and located at 1410 S.W. Taylor Street, was an unreinforced masonry building and was at risk of collapsing after the fire.
It wasn't until this week that fire investigators were able to get inside the building. Previously, they had used drones to look inside the apartments.
Investigators used a K-9 to sniff around for any signs of accelerants and crews carried out items from the building for the yellow Labrador retriever to smell.
Repp will be in court Friday.
