Oregon State Police Catch Up With Suspected Car Thief
by PHIL WRIGHT OPB | May 9, two thousand twelve Four:26 a.m. | Updated: July 17, two thousand twelve 1:01 a.m.
Oregon State Police caught up with a suspected car thief and cop dodger Monday night in Pendleton.
Johnny Lee Redding, 23, no permanent address, is in the Umatilla County Jail, Pendleton, on numerous charges after an investigation following a high-speed car pursue May two near Hermiston.
State police charged Redding with two counts of vehicle theft, attempt to elude in a vehicle and first-degree criminal mischief, all Class C felonies, and reckless driving, a misdemeanor. OSP identified Redding as a suspect in car thefts from dealerships in Hermiston and Wyoming.
The hunt for Redding began after OSP Trooper Michael Wolf attempted to stop a westbound two thousand eleven Ford F150 pickup May two at about 12:30 a.m. on Interstate eighty four near Milepost two hundred two for a traffic disturbance. The driver hit the gas and the pickup reached speeds of one hundred mph. The trooper lost view of the Ford after the driver turned off the lights and drove into a field.
At approximately 9:45 a.m. May Three, OSP Sgt. Seth Cooney found the pickup abandoned with front end harm about a quarter mile west of Highway three hundred ninety five near Feedville Road, near where the trooper last eyed it.
Cooney said an initial check in police data banks displayed the Ford wasn’t stolen, but OSP Trooper Lisa Sater searched the Internet for the pickup’s vehicle identification number because dealers now make those numbers available online for potential buyers.
Sater got a hit on a car dealership in Rock Springs, Wyo. She called the business, Cooney said, which didn’t know the vehicle was stolen. The dealership filed a theft report with the local police.
After the car pursue, Cooney said, OSP learned that Stanfield police recovered a stolen Ford F150 pickup at the Pilot Travel Center, two thousand one hundred fifteen S. Highway 395. The vehicle belonged to Tom Denchel Ford, five hundred fifty five S. Highway 395, Hermiston. Someone test drove the pickup, Cooney said, and then during the night, when the business was closed, someone stole it. A salesman at the dealership identified Redding as the person who test drove the vehicle.
From there, Cooney said, the investigation involved a lot of “old-fashioned police work,” with a team of officers knocking on doors and asking lots of questions. The effort led to state police arresting Redding at 11:16 p.m. Monday at two hundred ninety four S.W. 28th Drive, No. Four, Pendleton.
Police also found a third vehicle associated with Redding, a two thousand eleven Chevrolet Impala with no license plates, near where he was arrested. Cooney said OSP will determine if it also was stolen.
This story originally appeared in East Oregonian.