HERMISTON — Hermiston police reported an officer on Friday, Aug. 13, used a stun gun to take down a suspect who tried to pull off an armed robbery at a local restaurant.

Lamberto Chairez Soto, 31, of Hermiston, faces numerous criminal counts, Hermiston police reported, in connection to the events that began unfolding shortly after 5 p.m. that day,

A 911 call at 5:11 p.m. from Tienda La Comadre, 547 E. Main St., Hermiston, reported a male brandishing a handgun entered the restaurant and yelled in Spanish for everyone to put up their hands.

“The armed business owner defended himself, and the suspect fled the store,” according to the report from Hermiston police.

The suspect took off running northeast from the front of the business. Police began looking for a stocky Hispanic man about 30 years old wearing a white shirt and jeans, based on a description of the suspect.

Officers canvassed the area and located a 53-year-old woman who lives on the 600 block of East Gladys Avenue. She gave a similar description of the male and reported he knocked on her door.

She told police she opened the door, and a male showed a handgun and forced himself into her home, striking her in the head and demanding money. The suspect took her phone, keys and vehicle, a 2017 black Ford SUV.

Soon after, a Hermiston officer spotted the vehicle unoccupied at the Southgate Village Apartments, 1150 S. First St.

“Upon speaking with people in the area, video of the suspect exiting the car was located on a Ring camera from one of the persons living at Southgate Village and shared with responding officers,” police reported.

A Hermiston officer found Soto in the potato chip aisle at Safeway and attempted to detain him. Soto, according to police, resisted and the officer tried to stun him with a Taser. The darts, however, did not make full contact and Soto fled on foot.

The officer chased Soto out of Safeway, and an Oregon State Police trooper joined the rundown. The foot chase crossed Highway 395 and entered the parking lot of Pho Quan Vietnamese, where the trooper pulled out and fired a Taser.

“The deployment was successful and the suspect was taken into custody,” Hermiston police reported.

Police identified the man as Soto, and found he had a no-bail warrant out of the Oregon Department of Corrections. Police booked Soto in the county jail on the following cases and charges: three counts of first-degree robbery, two counts of unlawful use of a weapon and one count each of first-degree kidnapping, pointing a firearm at another, vehicle theft, second-degree theft and the Department of Corrections warrant.