Redmond PD: Man tried to steal car with 2 kids inside

A Redmond transient with a lengthy criminal record was arrested Sunday evening on attempted kidnapping and other charges, accused of trying to steal a car in a grocery store parking lot with two young children inside. Fortunately, police said, the children’s father had just locked the doors.

Redmond Police responded around 5:35 p.m. to a reported altercation at the Grocery Outlet on Northwest Fifth Street, Lt. Jesse Petersen said.

A father with two children had started his car and placed his 4-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter in the rear seat, buckling them in with their seat belts, he said.

While standing at the driver’s side of the car, the man said he noticed a suspicious man, later identified as Jeremy Dubisar, 34, near his car, watching what he was doing. He said he asked the suspicious man if he needed something, and he responded that he did not, Petersen said.

The alert father locked his car and walked to the rear passenger door to check on his daughter, at which point Dubisar tried to open the driver’s side door, Petersen said. After the father confronted Dubisar, he walked away, the lieutenant said.

“By first locking the vehicle, the father’s actions prevented Mr. Dubisar from entering and stealing his vehicle with the children inside,” Petersen said in a news release.

A Grocery Outlet employee reported what happened to Redmond police, who went to the scene and contacted Dubisar in the Grocery Outlet parking lot. Dubisar is on post-prison supervision for attempted kidnapping and appeared to be under the influence of drugs, the lieutenant said, though none were found in his possession,

An officer began talking to Dubisar and tried to pat him down for weapons. Petersen said Dubisar turned away from the officer and reached toward his waistband, also resisting officers as they tried to control him. As a safety measure, to prevent him from hurting himself or others, Dubisar was placed in a WRAP restraint device.

Dubisar was taken to the Deschutes County Jail, where he was held without bail for an out-of-county probation violation warrant and charged with attempted unauthorized entry into and use of a motor vehicle, resisting arrest and two counts each of second-degree attempted kidnapping, second-degree disorderly conduct and assault on a police officer.

Redmond police asked anyone who witnessed or recorded the incident to contact them through Deschutes County 911 dispatchers at 541-693-6911.

“We would also like to remind our community members that parents should always be observant and aware of their surroundings; especially in the presence of their children,” Petersen wrote. “As your observation skills and actions are instrumental in protecting one of our most precious assets, our children, such as what happened in this case.”

KTVZ 2019