Bend motorcycle theft suspect runs, found in cave

A motorcyclist who refused to stop for a Deschutes County sheriff’s deputy near Deschutes River Woods Friday night sparked a brief pursuit, then a two-hour search that first turned up the abandoned, stolen motorcycle and later a Bend transient who allegedly stole it and was hiding in a small cave, deputies said.

The deputy tried to pull over the 1985 Honda motorcycle east of Brookswood Boulevard shortly before 8 p.m. for an alleged trespass in the area of an irrigation canal, said Lt. Chad Davis.

But the rider instead headed off-road through the trees, heading northeast, as other deputies, Bend police officers and Oregon State Police responded to assist in the search, Davis said.

A short time later, the deputy who tried to pull the motorcyclist over found the motorcycle abandoned in the 19000 block of Foster Lane. Davis said they learned the motorcycle had been reported stolen to Bend police on July 17.

A sheriff’s office K-9 was sent to the scene to assist in the search, which ended when a deputy on the perimeter of the search area found Christopher Adam Roy, 42, hiding in a small cave about one-third of a mile from where the motorcycle was found.

Roy was taken into custody without incident around 10:15 p.m. and taken to the county jail, where he was lodged on charges of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, attempting to elude police in a vehicle and on foot, second-degree criminal mischief and second-degree criminal trespass. He was held on bail totaling $15,500.

The motorcycle was returned to its owner, Davis said.