OnStar disables stolen pickup; Madras man arrested

(Update: Adding details of pickup theft)

A 21-year-old Madras man was arrested on car theft, strangulation and other charges Thursday after police called off a pursuit of a stolen pickup truck — but the pickup’s OnStar navigation system was able to disable it minutes later, police said.

Police responded early Friday morning to a report that Jesus Palacios-Rios had committed strangulation and harassment “during an interaction with his partner,” Sgt. Mel Brown said in a news release.. The victim did not need or seek medical attention, he added.

Police began to search for the suspect and around 5:30 a.m. responded to Ponderosa Lane in Madras on a report of a stolen pickup, Brown said. Officers learned a 2012 GMC Sierra pickup had just been stolen from a home and the owner notified OnStar of the theft.

Sgt, Steve Webb said the victim had gone out to his pickup around 5:15 a.m. and started it for work, to defrost the windows. When he returned, it was gone.

With OnStar’s help, the pickup was located by police around 7 a.m. on Highway 97 near Brush Lane. Officers tried to pull it over, but the driver fled north on Highway 97, Brown said.

Although the speeds of the pursuit were low, Brown said police decided to terminate the pursuit, at a time when traffic was increasing and children were starting to head to school.

But he said the OnStar system continued to track the pickup and was able to safely disable it, once it was away from traffic, at L and Second streets in Madras.

Madras police, Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies and Oregon State Police took Palacios-Rios into custody. He was booked into the county jail on charges of unauthorized use of a vehicle, attempt to elude, strangulation amd harassment, and held without bail on a probation violation.