When police served a search warrant on a Southwest Portland apartment on Wednesday, they found a cache of weapons, body armor and drugs, as well as passports belonging to various people and a stolen motorcycle.

Michael Kessler, 27, who lives at the apartment, is now facing a dozen felony charges, including allegations that he stole thousands of dollars of merchandise from Portland businesses by ramming stolen cars into storefronts to gain entry, court records show.

The charges against Kessler include first and second-degree burglary, first-degree aggravated theft, first-degree criminal mischief, possession of a stolen vehicle, methamphetamine possession and being a felon in possession of guns and body armor, court records state.

Portland police and Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office detectives zeroed in on Kessler after they began investigating a series of burglaries in Bend and Portland that used the same two cars — a white Audi Q7 and a black Chevy Tahoe, court records show.

Detectives linked the Audi to Kessler when he made a call from jail while in custody on an unrelated charge. During the recorded call, Kessler allegedly told the person on the other end of the line that he was going to give them the car — and when police checked his apartment’s parking lot they found a white Audi Q7 that matched the one used in several burglaries, court records show.

Detectives also identified Manwell Castro as Kessler’s alleged accomplice in the burglaries, court records state.

During a break-in at the Natural Remedies marijuana dispensary at 8700 Southwest Barbur Court in Portland on April 5, Kessler allegedly made off with up to $20,000 in stolen merchandise, a probable cause affidavit states. The burglars also allegedly did about $1,000 in property damage as they broke into the building with a prybar and a sledgehammer.

On Sunday, Kessler and at least two accomplices struck again — this time hitting a business at Northeast Marx Street in Portland around 2 a.m., court records state. One of the thieves rammed the business’s electric fence with a car, while two other thieves drove cars into the side doors of the business to break in, court records allege.

Court records show that the burglars did more than $1,000 in property damage and made off with multiple marijuana plants.

As detectives investigated, they learned that Kessler had been stopped by a police officer less than two hours before the burglary while driving a red Ford Ranger. Surveillance footage of the burglary showed that one of the thieves used an identical car to smash into the business’s property, court records state.

On Tuesday, police spotted people loading boxes into a stolen Dodge Ram parked in front of Kessler’s apartment.

Officers stopped the truck after it left the parking lot and talked to the driver, who told them that John Kolb, who goes by the name “Loony Toon,” had given the truck to him, court records say.

A SWAT team arrested Kolb this week after a three-day manhunt after he allegedly shot at Milwaukie police during a high-speed chase.

Police searched the Dodge Ram and found multiple bags of vacuum-sealed marijuana that matched a bag of marijuana police found when they raided Kessler’s apartment the next day, court records say.

Police also found burglary tools in the Dodge Ram, including walkie-talkies, devices for reprogramming car keys, a pry bar and a sledgehammer, court records state.

On Wednesday, the day after police stopped the Dodge Ram, police served a search warrant on Kessler’s apartment, court records say.

Police said that inside the apartment they found a 9 mm handgun and a .380 mm semi-automatic gun, 6 packs of sealed lottery tickets, meth, a vacuum-sealed bag of marijuana, multiple boxes with hundreds of pre-rolled blunts, digital scales with drug residue on them, two passports that didn’t belong to Kessler and a stolen motorcycle that Kessler had allegedly brought home at 3 a.m. that day, court records state.

Police also arrested Castro, Kessler’s alleged accomplice, on separate charges on Wednesday, court and jail records show.

Kessler was previously convicted of fleeing a police officer and reckless endangerment in 2024 and another two counts of reckless endangerment, second-degree theft, unlawful possession of a controlled substance and being a felon in possession of a firearm in 2022.

His next court appearance is scheduled for July 7.

— Tatum Todd is a breaking news reporter who covers public safety, crime and community news. Reach them at ttodd@oregonian.com or 503-221-4313.