Bend man wanted in several thefts caught in Salem

A 39-year-old Bend man charged with a string of crimes in Deschutes, Crook and Marion counties ran from a stolen pickup in a Salem traffic stop Friday but was caught and arrested a short distance away, Marion County sheriff’s deputies said.

Deputies stopped the gray Nissan Frontier around 10:30 a.m. on State Street near Lancaster Drive Northeast, Lt. Chris Baldridge said.

During the stop, deputies learned the pickup was stolen, but the driver, Mark Leonard Kurtz Jr., ran when they tried to arrest him, Baldridge said.

Kurtz was arrested a short distance away and taken into custody. Baldridge said he’s been identified as being involved in a Wednesday robbery of an adult bookstore on Lancaster Drive.

Kurtz was booked into the Marion County Jail on charged of unlawful use of a motor vehicle, resisting arrest, attempting to elude police, methamphetamine possession, interfering with a police officer, second-degree robbery and menacing, as well as outstanding felony arrest warrants in Marion and Deschutes counties.

Online court records show Kurtz was charged in three separate crimes since December. The, first in Deschutes County, listed six felony charges, including first-degree forgery and theft, two counts of ID theft and one each of conspiracy and mail theft or receipt of stolen mail. An indictment which also listed Steven Stahl, 27, listed charges involving several victims and more than $5,000.

A warrant was issued when Kurtz failed to appear for a Jan. 25 arraignment. Stahl, meanwhile, pleaded guilty in early January to two of the counts, first-degree theft and ID theft, and was sentenced to 13 months in prison on each charge.

Kurtz was indicted Jan. 12 in Crook County on one count of first-degree theft and six counts of negotiating a bad check involving October incidents. The theft involved more than $1,000 worth of merchandise from Ace Hardware, the charging document said.

Kurtz was arrested on a warrant Jan. 21 in Salem and conditionally released a few days later, pending a Feb. 21 appearance in Crook County Circuit Court.

Kurtz also was charged in Marion County in early January with second-degree forgery and two counts of possession of a forged instrument. An arrest warrant was issued when he failed to appear for a Jan. 8 arraignment.