Bend PD K-9 nabs Food 4 Less cellphone theft suspect

A West Linn, Oregon man who stole a vendor’s cellphone at Bend’s Food 4 Less early Wednesday morning fled from police by car, then jumped out and ran away but was found by a police K-9 team while hiding in a home’s backyard, officers said.

Police were dispatched around 6:30 a.m. to the grocery store on North Highway 97 for a theft that had just occurred, Sgt. Adam Juhnke said.

An employee had called Deschutes County 911 dispatchers to report that a man, later identified as Blakely Herman Hickman, 23, of West Linn, stole a vendor’s cellphone, then left and got into a silver Audi car in the parking lot. The victim was a 51-year-old Molalla woman, Juhnke said, while the suspect was an apparent customer in the store, which opens at 6 a.m..

Bend officers responded and found Hickman’s car, but as an officer tried to stop him, he sped away through the parking lot, got out of the car and ran to the west across Highway 20, the sergeant said.

Bend police K-9 handler Corporal James Kinsella and his partner Haras began searching for Hickman, tracking him more than a half-mile through neighborhoods and industrial areas, Juhnke said.

Haras eventually found Hickman hiding in the backyard of a home on Shetland Loop and took him into custody without incident, Juhnke said. The woman’s cellphone was recovered during the investigation, he added.

Hickman was taken to the county jail and booked on charges of second-degree theft, felony and misdemeanor charges of fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer and second-degree criminal trespass. He was being held without bail on one of two outstanding warrants from the Oregon Parole Board and West Linn Municipal Court.