Alert neighbor helps Bend police quickly catch theft suspect

Cars parked on streets or in driveways get broken into frequently around Bend and Central Oregon. But thanks to an alert neighbor, store security video and fast police work, one alleged thief was arrested only about two hours after the crime Saturday morning.

Deschutes County 911 dispatchers got a call shortly before 7 a.m. from a neighbor in the area of Southwest Roosevelt Avenue and Silver Lake Boulevard, reporting they had just witnessed someone break into a parked car, take items and run, Bend police Lt. Ken Mannix said.

“The guy just woke up, was in his house, saw it take place” and called 911, Mannix said.

Bend police responded to the scene and conducted an extensive search of the area, Mannix said. They didn’t find the suspect, but a purse belonging to the victim, a 29-year-old Bend woman, was found along the road.

Bend police soon learned the victim’s credit cards had been used at two stores on Bend’s south end, Fred Meyer and Walmart, Mannix said. A review of surveillance video from the two stores revealed a detailed description of the suspect, and the images were provided to officers on their patrol car computer screens.

With that information in hand, officers kept searching and canvassing the area, the lieutenant said. Soon, an officer drove by a motorist who matched the description and he was pulled over.

The driver, identified as Derek Eugene Chamberlain, a 32-year-old transient, was taken into custody without incident around 9 a.m. during the traffic stop near Grocery Outlet at Southeast Third Street and Roosevelt Avenue.

Mannix said officers found and recovered from his car and items stolen from the victim and others bought with her stolen cards.

Chamberlain was booked into the county jail on two counts of fraudulent use of a credit card, first-degree theft, ID theft, heroin possession, DUII-drugs, second-degree criminal mischief and unlawful entry into a vehicle, as well as an arrest on an outstanding warrant. He was being held without bail on a parole violation, jail records showed.

Mannix applauded the quick work of police investigators on the case, as well as the alert neighbor. He noted that thieves often act fast to use stolen credit or debit cards before the victim awakens, learns of what’s happened and cancels them.

The suspect had “bought a fair amount of stuff” with the stolen cards, Mannix added.

Court records show that in 2017, Chamberlain pleaded guilty to delivery of heroin and was sentenced to 13 months in prison and two years post-prison supervision.

In December 2016, police said he was arrested on robbery and theft charges, accused of shoplifting from the Market of Choice, then brandishing a knife when fronted by security. He was convicted of robbery, menacing, theft and unlawful use of a weapon and sentenced to six months in prison, as well as time in the county jail.

The court records show several previous arrests for heroin possession, DUII, theft and other charges in recent years.