Shot fired during stolen-car pursuit; 3 arrested

A passenger in a car stolen in Warm Springs fired a rifle at a pursuing Oregon State Police trooper during a chase north of Madras Monday morning. Three people ditched the car and ran, leading to a chase on foot and their arrests, troopers said Wednesday.

A Jefferson County sheriff’s deputy spotted the black 2005 Honda Civic around 9:20 a.m. Monday on Highway 26 near NW Gumwood Lane, northwest of Madras, said OSP Senior Trooper Daniel Swift. The car had been reported stolen earlier Monday morning to Warm Springs police.

The deputy tried to pull over the car but the driver, later identified as Colleen Kalama, 23, of Warm Springs, sped off. Warm Springs and Madras police responded to the area, as well as OSP, to help in the pursuit, Swift said.

An OSP trooper took over as lead pursuer in a rural area just outside the rural community of Gateway as the chase continued on several county roads at speeds topping 70 mph, “during which time a passenger fired a rifle at the pursuing OSP trooper,” Swift said in a news release.

The chase eventually entered Gateway, where the driver lost control on icy roads and crashed into a fence in front of a home, the lieutenant said.

The three people in the stolen car – Kalama, Stuart Smith, 39, also of Warm Springs, and Stefan Sutterlee, 24, of Madras – got out and ran into the nearby fields, Swift said. All three were lodged in the Jefferson County Jail on several outstanding and new charges, including a charge against Sutterlee of pointing a firearm at another.

Jefferson County deputies, assisted by Warm Springs police, found the three a short time later on nearby property and took them into custody without further incident, Swift said, adding that no officers were injured. A Winchester .270 caliber rifle was found in the stolen car.