Fugitive arrested after 2 Redmond car thefts, chase

A fugitive well-known to area police stole a car, then a pickup in Redmond Wednesday night, leading police on a chase that ended after spike strips were used to deflate its tires, authorities said. The driver tried to run away but was arrested with the help of a K-9 and his handler, police said.

A Deschutes County sheriff’s deputy found a stolen 2014 Ford Focus around 8:20 p.m. in the area of Northwest 25 th Street and Rimrock Lane in Redmond, said sheriff’s Sgt. William Bailey. The car was reported stolen earlier in the day.

The car was unoccupied, but while the deputy waited for others to arrive and help, a man got in and started to drive off, Bailey said. The deputy initiated a traffic stop, but the driver pulled into a driveway and ran, he said..

The deputy recognized Ryan Fischer Salt, 36, as the driver, Bailey said, adding that he was known to have outstanding felony arrest warrants for parole violation and methamphetamine possession.

As more deputies arrived to help set up a search perimeter, another deputy tried to stop a red Dodge Ram 1500 pickup leaving the area without taillights. The driver failed to stop, and a pursuit began near the corner of Northwest Way and Yucca Avenue, Bailey said.

Redmond police and Oregon State Police assisted in the pursuit, which continued onto Cline Falls Highway. A third deputy set up and successfully deployed spike strips on Cline Falls Highway, near McConnell Road.

The pickup continued for a short distance, to the intersection of Cline Falls Highway and Becker Road, where the pickup stopped after its driver’s side front tire deflated, Bailey said.

Fischer Salt got out of the pickup and again tried to run, Bailey said. An OSP trooper and deputies caught Fischer Salt after a short distance, assisted by Redmond police K-9 Mavrick and his partner, Officer Josh Powers.

Fischer Salt was taken into custody without further assistance. Bailey said Fischer Salt was evaluated on the scene by medics and taken to St. Charles Bend for further evaluation before being cleared to go to the county jail, where he remained held without bail Thursday on the parole violation and meth possession warrants.

He faces numerous new charges, including two counts of unlawful use of a motor vehicle, felony and misdemeanor attempt to elude by vehicle and on foot, meth and heroin possession, reckless driving, reckless endangering and second-degree criminal trespassing.

Last April, Central Oregon drug agents sought the public’s help in finding Fischer Salt after he fled when they tried to arrest him as he left a home in the area of Hunnell Road near Tumalo Road, said CODE Team Lt. Ken Mannix.

Fischer Salt was riding in a 1993 Cadillac DeVille whose driver sped off and let him out about a mile away. Driver Benjamin Richardson, 25, of Redmond, was arrested, but an extensive search failed to find Fischer Salt. The fugitive’s then-3-year-old child was in the back seat, not in a child safety seat or seat belt, and was placed in state custody, Mannix said.

In August 2013, Fischer Salt was arrested on charges of kicking in the door of the sheriff’s office shooting range, vandalizing it and stealing 26 bulletproof vests.

He also was arrested in 2010 after running from deputies in Redmond who had tried to stop a car with expired registration tags. Police said he parked at a home, went inside, then ran from an alley. A Redmond police dog helped find him hiding inside a nearby utility trailer. He was arrested on DUII, felon in possession of a firearm and other charges.