Hwy. 26 spike strips end wild stolen-car chase

A man called 911 after seeing someone try to steal his truck in a Prineville fast-food parking lot Thursday morning, then watched him take another parked car and drive off, police said. That sparked a wild pursuit that included the suspect fleeing a guns-drawn traffic stop and eventually stopping when he hit spike strips on Highway 26.

Just before 10:30 a.m., Prineville 911 dispatchers got a call from a citizen reporting a man later identified as Marlin Dean Dickerson, 35, had tried to steal his truck in the McDonald’s parking lot on Third Street, said Police Chief Les Stiles.

The man came out and interrupted Dickerson, who ran when the truck owner tried to talk to him, Stiles said.

The police chief said in a news release that the caller “had the presence of mind to stay on the phone” with dispatchers and provide more information, actually following Dickerson on foot. The caller saw Dickerson cross the street and get in another parked car at the Bank of the Cascades that had a set of keys in it, Stiles said.

By that time, two Prineville officers were on scene and one saw Dickerson driving the stolen car and matching the description given by dispatchers, Stiles said.

The officers stopped the suspect, and he pulled over in front of Ochoco School, Stiles said.

“Both officers held him at gunpoint and started to give him commands when Dickerson spun around and jumped back in the stolen car and drove away at a high rate of speed,” Stiles wrote.

The officers pursued the car toward Madras on Highway 26 as Dickerson reached speeds of 95 mph, Stiles said. Crook and Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies and Oregon State Police responded to assist.

Around milepost 12 on Highway 26, OSP troopers employed a set of spike strips, with Jefferson County deputies doing the same about 50 yards farther down the road.

Stiles said Dickerson drove over the first set of spikes, and the car’s front tires slowly deflated. He pulled over on the highway shoulder, avoiding the second spike strip, and was taken into custody without further incident.

Dickerson was taken to the Crook County Jail and held on $30,000 bail, facing charges of car theft, two counts of unlawful entry into a motor vehicle, possession of stolen property, reckless driving, attempting to elude police and a misdemeanor charge of driving with a suspended license.

Stiles thanked the other police agencies for their assistance in the successful conclusion to the incident.