Bend police catch masked, hammer-wielding robbery suspect

A man wearing a badge and a ski mask and armed with a hammer entered a northeast Bend car dealer before closing time Saturday evening, yelled “sheriff!” and demanded money from the owners, police said. He stole their cellphones and eventually ran after police arrived but was caught by officers a short distance away.

Deschutes County 911 dispatchers got a call shortly before 7 p.m. from a woman seeking help with an emergency at Local Motors on Northeast Division Street, Lt. Brian Beekman said.

Officers arrived in about three minutes and encountered a robbery in progress, with a suspect later identified as Christopher James Grant, 50, of Bend, still inside with the husband-and- business owners and a 6-year-old boy.

The woman and boy eventually came out and were contacted by officers, while Grant left the business, saw officers and ran to the north.

Two officers chased after Grant and ordered him to stop, Beekman said. He refused, but the pursuing officers caught him about a block away, on Tweet Place north of Yale Avenue.

Beekman noted Grant is not a police officer in Oregon and was impersonating one.

He handcuffed the 43-year-old husband during the robbery, causing minor injuries, and ordered the 45-year-old wife to go outside and start her vehicle, the lieutenant said.

Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies and Bend police detectives are assisting in the investigation, to determine, among other things, how Grant obtained the law enforcement items used in the holdup, Beekman said.

Grant was booked into the county jail on numerous charges, including first-degree kidnapping, theft and attempted theft, second-degree robbery and burglary, criminal impersonation of a peace officer, harassment, menacing, coercion, unlawful use of a weapon and attempted use of a motor vehicle. Initial bail was set at $332,500.