Bend car theft at gunpoint leads to chase, four arrests

A car stolen at gunpoint from a Bend motel guest Sunday night was spotted about an hour later, leading to a 15-mile police chase on Highway 20 east of town and use of a police “PIT maneuver” to stop the car and arrest the four people inside, officers said

Police responded around 8:30 p.m. to the report of a stolen car at the Chalet Motel, 510 SE Third St., said Sgt. Tom Pine. The 25-year-old male victim, a Bend resident, said he was ordered at gunpoint to hand over the keys to his white 1994 Nissan Sentra.

The victim also was “made to remove his clothing during the robbery in an effort to inconvenience his reporting of the incident,” Pine said in a news release.

Police broadcast a description of the stolen car and its occupants to area police and listed the car as stolen in local and national databases, the sergeant said.

Around 9:45 p.m., a Deschutes County sheriff’s deputy spotted a car matching the description near the intersection of Highway 20 East and NE 27 th Street, Pine said.

The deputy was able to confirm the matching license plate and tried to pull the car over, but the driver fled east on Highway 20. More sheriff’s office units and Oregon State Police troopers assisted in the pursuit, which reportedly hit speeds of 70 mph in light or no traffic.

Near the base of Horse Ridge, about 15 miles east of Bend, a deputy moved his car into position to stop the pursuit using the PIT (precision immobilization technique) maneuver, a police tactic to force a pursued car to abruptly turn sideways and come to a stop, Pine said.

The driver, later identified as Christopher May, 27, of Prineville, swerved the car in an attempt to run the deputy off the road, Pine said, but the PIT maneuver was initiated and caused the car to come to a stop just off the road.

A high-risk (guns drawn) vehicle stop was conducted, and all four people in the car complied with officers’ commands and were taken into custody without incident, Pine said, adding that there were no injuries. The stolen car had some body damage from the incident, but the deputy’s car was not damaged.

A search of the car turned up a black Daisy BB-gun handgun, stolen items, methamphetamine and the victim’s stolen clothes, Pine said.

May was lodged in the county jail in Bend on charges of first-degree robbery, conspiracy, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, first-degree theft, second-degree attempted assault of a police officer and attempting to elude police. His bail totaled $200,000.

Cyle Stewart, 29, of Bend, was held without bail on an Oregon Parole Board warrant, and charged with first-degree robbery, conspiracy, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and first-degree theft.

Kaila Vasquez-Martinez, a 27-year-old transient, was held on $145,000 bail, facing charges of first-degree robbery conspiracy, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and first-degree theft.

Lora Heinrich, 28, of Bend, was held without bail on a felony warrant for parole violation.

Another police chase ensued less than two hours later between Bend and Redmond on Highway 97 that led to use of spike strips and a driver’s arrest.