Wild SW Bend crime spree ends in DRW arrest

A knife-wielding man who broke into several southwest Bend homes Monday morning, taking money and jewelry, and tried to carjack a woman’s car before stealing an SUV was caught in Deschutes River Woods south of town a short time later, thanks in part to citizen tips on his whereabouts, police said.

Nathan John Fletcher, 26, of Bend, “was found to be impaired by a stimulant” when he was taken into custody and first was taken to St. Charles Bend for a medical evaluation, then to the Deschutes County Jail on numerous robbery, burglary, theft and other charges. He was held without bail on a parole violation, jail records showed.

Around 9:30 a.m., police responded to a 911 report of a robbery on Southwest Tuscany Drive, said Lt. Nick Parker.

Alicia Wise reported she had returned home to find a man trying to break into her other car, parked in her driveway, Parker said. She pulled in behind the car to keep the man from leaving in it.

Wise told police she stayed in her car as the man approached her with a knife, demanding the car she was driving. Instead, she locked herself inside and called 911, and the man ran off, Parker said.

Officers swarmed the area and began searching the area to try to find the man later identified as Fletcher.

They soon learn he’d forced his way through the back door at a neighbor’s home and stole jewelry, then also illegally entered another home on Tuscany Drive through an unlocked door and stole money, Parker said.

Fletcher then threatened a resident on nearby Fox Hills Drive with a knife and stole her gray 2007 Chevy Tahoe from the garage, heading south, the lieutenant said.

“Multiple helpful citizens provided updates to officers regarding the direction of travel of the stolen” SUV, Parker said in a news release.

That led officers south into Deschutes River Woods, south of Bend, where sheriff’s deputies helped look for the stolen Tahoe and driver.

Officers soon got a 911 report of a burglary from residents on Navajo Circle, Parker said. They said a man matching the suspect’s description came into their home through an unlocked door and menaced them with a hammer and flashlight, then fled in the stolen Tahoe.

Officers assisted by citizens soon found Fletcher in the SUV at the end of Mohawk Circle, off Navaho Road. Parker said they took him into custody shortly after 10 a.m. without further incident.

Fletcher faces a long list of charges including three counts of first-degree burglary, two counts of first-degree robbery, first-, second- and third-degree theft, third-degree criminal mischief, menacing, two counts each of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and unlawful entry into a motor vehicle, carrying a concealed weapon, felon in possession of a restricted weapon, reckless driving and recklessly endangering another person.

The latter two charges involve Fletcher nearly striking a road construction flagger near Baker and Cinder roads, Parker said.

Anyone with information to assist police investigating the series of crimes was asked to contact dispatch at 541-693-6911.

The stolen SUV had Oregon disabled veteran stolen license plates, according to reports during the sequence of events.

Oregon State Police also were involved in the search and investigation. At one point, “spike strips” were deployed on two streets to flatten the tires and stop the vehicle, should the driver encounter them.

Alicia Wise told NewsChannel 21 that Fletcher — saying he was being pursued by Russians — was trying to steal her neighbor’s car and asking her for help.

“I was yelling to my daughter to get into the car,” said Wise, who drove away quickly. She later returned to the scene where the man was trying to steal her car, and said, “I blocked him in and called 911.”

Her husband, John Wise, said on NewsChannel 21’s Facebook page that the suspect “tried hot-wiring my truck, then broke into the neighbor’s house cross the street, then stole a vehicle from an elderly lady.”

Residents said the fleeing suspect hit a dead-end at the end of Mohawk Circle, at the southern end of DRW, and was taken into custody a short time later, after an alert neighbor pointed out to pursuing police where he’d headed.

Three schools — Elk Meadow, Pine Ridge elementary schools and Morning Star Christian School — were placed on brief lockout until the man was in custody. Unlike a more serious “lockdown,” when all interior doors are locked and everyone shelters in place, a “lockout” makes sure all exterior doors are secure, to keep out intruders.

“I was in the kindergarten classroom,” said Liz Beaty, STEM coordinator at Morning Star Christian School. “We were performing our math games on the iPad when over the intercom, it came through that we needed to follow lockout procedures.”

Wanda Moore will have a full report on NewsChannel 21 at Five and Six.