Bend robbery suspect is ex-Deschutes juvenile detention worker

A Bend man accused of donning a badge and a ski mask, arming himself with a hammer and trying to rob the owners of a Division Street used-car dealership was a Deschutes County juvenile detention staff member for more than 16 years, until he left the position last April, county officials confirmed Monday.

Police said Christopher James Grant, 50, entered the office of Local Motors Saturday evening, claiming to be with the sheriff’s office.

Owners Christina and Morgan Matlock told NewsChannel 21 that she quietly called 911, bringing police to the scene. Police said Grant tried to run but was caught by pursuing officers about a block away.

A district attorney’s initial charging document, called an information, filed Monday charges Grant with second-degree kidnapping and first-degree robbery. Jail records Monday showed Grant being held on $100,000 bail.

County Administrator Tom Anderson said Grant began employment with the county’s Community Justice/Juvenile Detention department as a community justice specialist on Feb. 1, 2002 and was in that position until April 25 of this year.

Anderson said he could not provide more details about Grant’s departure, due to most personnel matters being confidential.

He explained that the staff members “work with youth, help them adjust and make sure they’re where they need to be.”

County Community Justice Director Ken Hales said the juvenile detention staff are not certified law enforcement or peace officers, as Adult Parole and Probation officers are.

Bend police Lt. Brian Beekman said Grant had worn a law enforcement-style badge with a star that said “Deschutes County Community Justice.”

Anderson said the juvenile detention facility staff are not given badges, but he noted that back in the 1990s, before Grant went to work for the county, “all juvenile detention officers and juvenile probation officers were given badges as part of a ceremony with the circuit court judges.”

“The badges were collected back from staff in 2001 or 2002,” Anderson said, adding that Grant “may have somehow obtained one of those old badges, although that is speculation.”

Beekman also said investigators had heard that Grant had a disagreement over the sale of a vehicle with a previous owner of the car lot. He also noted that alcohol or drugs are not being investigated as factors in the case.

Christina Matlock also shared new details of the crime with NewsChannel 21 on Monday, saying she was at the office working on closing the year-end books, with their 6-year-old son also there, and her husband had just turned off the “open” sign and sat down for a break when Grant walked in.

She said Grant told her husband to get down on the ground, but Morgan asked to see some ID, since “because he had a mask on, Morgan knew something was not right. He was trying to make it seem like Morgan was a suspect in a crime.”

She said her husband didn’t comply, and then “it got heated and physical, at which point he pulled out a hammer to strike Morgan. Morgan put his hands up and remained calm while trying to talk this guy down.”

“He kept asking Morgan for the ‘cash box,’ which we don’t have,” Christina Matlock said. “Meanwhile, I had dialed 911 on my phone and put the phone down so that the intruder would not know what I had done.”

“Morgan went back and forth with trying to negotiate. He told the man that ‘we know he is in need and we want to help him,’ just trying to calm him down. He persisted in cuffing Morgan while Morgan negotiated for him to let me go to our car and get his wallet.

“I picked up my son … off the ground, because at that point he wanted (the boy) and I on the ground with my hands where he could see them after he asked for our cellphones. Early on, Morgan had thrown his cellphone at me and asked me to call 911, not knowing that I had 911 on the line.

“With (our son) on my hip I went outside where I saw the police had surrounded the building and flagged me to come to them. They then proceeded to the entrance when the intruder caught wind of what was going on and starting running away,” she added.

A commenter on KTVZ.COM’s initial story on the robbery said Grant was her former juvenile detention officer.

“He changed a lot of kids’ lives with his wisdom and guidance,” she wrote. “It’s sad to see this happen to him. He was a favorite among all the kids in the facility. I guess he finally snapped.”