Pair charged with kidnapping, raping 2 Prineville teens

Two men were stopped in a stolen SUV and arrested Thursday night on Highway 31 near the Klamath/Deschutes County line, accused of kidnapping two 17-year-old Prineville girls from the Redmond Walmart parking lot and raping them, Oregon State Police said.

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office was contacted around 4:30 p.m. Thursday at their Christmas Valley substation by the teens who reported they were kidnap victims, said OSP Lt. Bill Fugate.

The teens said they were at the Redmond Walmart around midnight Wednesday and could not get their car started, Fugate said.

Two men pulled up in a silver SUV and offered to let them sit inside, as it was cold. Fugate said the girls got into the SUV, at which point the men produced a handgun and drove off with them.

The teens told police they believed they were drugged and went unconscious thereafter, Fugate said. They said they recalled being on Highway 20 east of Bend, then at a residence in Christmas Valley. At some point Thursday, they were able to escape the home and notify police.

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office, OSP and Redmond Police began investigating the incident.

Early Thursday evening, Lake County deputies took a report of a stolen Chevy Tahoe. It was believed the men who stole the SUV were the kidnapping suspects.

Around 9:15 p.m., an OSP Fish and Wildlife trooper spotted the stolen Tahoe heading north on Highway 31 south of La Pine, Fugate said. With the assistance of Deschutes County deputies, the SUV was stopped and the two men arrested.

The suspects, identified as James Borchers, 50, of Portland, and Joseph Cheek, 32, of Christmas Valley, were arrested on first-degree kidnap and rape charges. Fugate said they were still in OSP custody at midday Friday but would be booked into the Lake County Jail later in the day.

Police are seeking the public’s help with any information they might have, Fugate said, if anyone saw Cheek or Borchers in the area of the Redmond Walmart Wednesday evening or anywhere on Thursday.

The public’s assistance also is sought in locating a silver or gray Toyota 4-Runner the suspects were seen driving the night of the alleged abduction.

Anyone with information was asked to call OSP Detective Pat Irish at 541-883-5713.