Bend man arrested in string of car break-ins

A crime victim saw a bicyclist wearing his stolen winter jacket and called police Thursday afternoon, leading to the arrest of a 21-year-old Bend man accused of entering at least 10 cars and stealing items over the past two weeks, police said.

Police went to the area of Northeast Sixth Street and Irving Avenue around 2 p.m. on the possible theft report, said Sgt. Tom Pine.

The victim reported seeing a cyclist wearing his jacket riding a bike on Sixth Street, then turning into Juniper Park, Pine said. The man told police the jacket was his and recently stolen from his car, describing it in great detail as a “very unique” jacket, the sergeant added.

Officers set up in the area and began looking for the man. Less than 10 minutes later, an officer spotted the man on the bike, leaving Juniper Park. Pine said the officer approached him and ordered him to stop, but the suspect took off on the bike.

Officers set up a perimeter and eventually took the man, identified as Taylor Steven Connelly, into custody in the area of Pilot Butte Cemetery, Pine said.

Officers at the scene were familiar with Connelly, who had been identified as the suspect in as many as 10 illegal entries into cars over the last two weeks Pine said, adding that he’s also a suspect in other crimes connected to those cases.

As a result of that investigation and evidence gathered Thursday, Connelly was taken to the Deschutes County Jail and booked on 17 charges, four of them felonies – two for probation violation, as well as heroin and methamphetamine possession.

The 13 misdemeanor charges include 10 counts of unlawful entry into a motor vehicle and single counts of second-degree theft from a motor vehicle, third-degree escape and giving false information to police.

Pine added that the “Bend Police Department would like to take this opportunity to share the importance of reporting criminal activity” to police.

“The timely reporting of crimes in the city of Bend can directly support the apprehension of those responsible for such acts,” he wrote.

Pine said Bend police use “modern criminal analysis software to detect crime trends, geographic hotspots and modus operandi within the city. This allows strategic deployment of resources in an effort to police our community more effectively.

“Criminal analysis was significant in developing Connelly as a suspect in these cases, as well as providing information on compiling those cases he was likely responsible for,” he added..

The sergeant also said that “timely reporting of criminal activity is paramount for criminal analysis to be effective. The faster the data to be analyzed is gathered, the quicker an effective response can be formulated.”

You can contact Deschutes County 911 dispatchers through the emergency number or non-emergency 541-693-6911, depending on the nature of the situation, or by using the Bend Police Department’s online tools.

Many tools are available online at http://www.ci.bend.or.us/index.aspx?page=887 including filing online reports with police.