Redmond theft from car leads to arrest, raid

A theft from a car parked at the Motel 6 in Redmond early Thursday led to a man’s arrest later in the day and a raid on a storage unit that turned up a stolen debit card, bike and other items, including personal info for several people, police said.

Keith Allen Schmidtke, 37, a transient, was arrested around 8:30 p.m. when police spotted a suspect vehicle in the same area as the theft reported in the early morning hours, said Sgt. Curtis Chambers.

The victim helped officers find some of the stolen property hidden nearby, Chambers said. More evidence from a nearby business led to ID of possible suspects and a vehicle, he added.

A search warrant was obtained for a storage unit at 2173 S. Highway 97, where more stolen property was recovered, including a debit card from a reported theft in Bend and a bike reported stolen to Sunriver police last year. Chambers said they also found personal information for several people, including Social Security numbers, names, addresses and birthdates.

Schmidtke was arrested on charges of first-degree theft, ID- theft, felony failure to register as a sex offender, unlawful entry into a motor vehicle, fraudulent use of a credit card and second-degree criminal mischief. He was being held without bail at the Deschutes County Jail for parole violation.

Schmidtke made the news in July 2011, when he was arrested on a dozen charges after a chase in La Pine during which sheriff’s deputies said shots were fired from one car toward another. Two passengers ran and were found hiding in a vacant home, held at gunpoint by a caretaker until police arrived.