Dump truck stolen from construction site leads to SE Bend neighborhood standoff, arrest

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – A transient stole a dump truck from a construction site and fled police in a southeast Bend neighborhood Saturday morning, turned down a dead-end street and refused to get out, prompting alerts to neighbors and the use of a less-lethal projectile, chemical munition and the threat of a K-9's bite to force his surrender, police said.

Officers responded around 7 a.m. to the reported theft of the dump truck from a construction site on Southeast Parrell Road, Sgt. R.C. Bigelow said. The owner followed the truck until police spotted it in the area of Brosterhous Road and Kobe Street.

They tried to stop the driver on Dylan Loop, but he kept going through a residential area. Bigelow said officers watched the driver turn onto Kobe Street, a dead-end road, and conducted a high-risk stop as he tried to back out.

The 37-year-old Bend transient refused to get out and began covering the truck’s windows with objects he found in the cab, the sergeant said.

Several other officers arrived to contain the dump truck on the dead-end street, Bigelow said, while Deschutes County 911 dispatchers began notifying immediate neighbors of the situation.

Bend police K-9 Vegas and his handler were called in to assist, while officers communicated with and tried to negotiate the driver’s surrender for nearly an hour.

A less-lethal projectile round was used to break a truck window opposite from where the driver was sitting, but the man still wouldn’t get out, Bigelow said. A chemical munition was then deployed into the truck, and the driver opened the passenger-side door, but still wouldn’t surrender to officers.

The man was soon advised the K-9 would be used to take him into custody if he continued to refuse officers’ commands, the sergeant said.

“He ultimately became compliant and was taken into custody before the K-9 engaged him,” Bigelow wrote in a news release.

The driver, who was uninjured, was taken to the county jail and lodged on charges including unauthorized use of a vehicle, possession of a stolen vehicle, second-degree criminal trespass, attempt to elude, interfering with a police officer and resisting arrest. He was held without bail on a parole violation.

The stolen dump truck was returned to the owners, Bigelow said.

Bend police were assisted by Deschutes County 911, sheriff’s deputies and Oregon State Police.