Fugitive crashes stolen car, caught after manhunt, public alert NW of Bend

DCSO K-9 Ezel, partner find Warm Springs man hiding in pickup camper

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – A fugitive from Warm Springs allegedly stole a car in Jefferson County on Saturday, then crashed it northwest of Bend and fled, prompting a manhunt and emergency alert calls to residents to lock their doors before a K-9 team found him hiding in a pickup camper, Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies said.

Deputies were dispatched just after 11 a.m. Saturday to the report of a suspicious man in the 63500 block of Johnson Road, Lt. William Bailey said.

The caller told dispatchers an unknown man jumped the back fence to the property, approached the back door and asked to use a phone, then walked away. A second caller reported seeing the man walking through their property as well, Bailey said.

As deputies searched the area, a third caller reported a car parked on Golden Spur Way that appeared to be disabled from a crash and was unoccupied. Bailey said deputies checked on the car and learned it was stolen earlier Saturday out of Jefferson County.

A fourth 911 caller reported seeing a man standing and possibly waiting for a ride on Kuhlman Road, near Tyler Road, Bailey said. When deputies contacted the man there, he refused to follow commands and took off running.

Deputies recovered evidence tying the man that ran to the recovered stolen car. They also were able to identify the man as Kendell Florez, 22, who had outstanding arrest warrants out of Clackamas and Jefferson counties and also was a possible suspect in a Redmond robbery investigation, Bailey said.

Sheriff’s deputy K-9 Ezel and his partner, Deputy Jeremiah Johnson, responded to help track and capture Florez. Bailey said the sheriff’s office also used the county’s emergency alerts system to alert residents in the Saddleback subdivision south of Kuhlman Road that a suspicious man was in the area, and to lock their doors and call law enforcement if they saw him.

An extended search was conducted by Ezel and partner, assisted by U.S. Forest Service K-9 team Cora and Officer John Soules, along with a Bend police drone team, in the residential and forested area between Kuhlman Road and the Saddleback subdivision, Bailey said.

Around 4:30 p.m., K-9 Ezel found Florez hiding in a truck camper off Hackamore Drive, and he was taken into custody without incident, Bailey said. The suspect was taken to St. Charles Bend for evaluation of a minor injury sustained before police contact, then to the county jail, where he was lodged on charges of car theft and first-degree theft.

Redmond police also interviewed Florez regarding a Nov. 29 robbery at the Hub Motel, Bailey said. That lead to additional charges of second-degree robbery, third-degree assault and second-degree theft.

Redmond police are still actively investigating the motel robbery. Witnesses or those with information about the robbery are asked to contact them through non-emergency dispatch, 541-693-6911, reference Case No. 20-91378.

Bailey said sheriff’s deputies want to than the Forest Service, Bend police and many homeowners and residents in the area who called in sightings during the search for Florez.

Court records show Florez was arrested in September in Jefferson County and pleaded guilty in October to fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer. Reckless driving and hit-and-run (property damage) charges were dismissed. He was sentenced to 18 days in jail and 18 months probation.

He received a similar sentence in 2017 after pleading guilty to fleeing or attempting to elude police and DUII.