Over the weekend, Bend Police officers continued their investigation into an attempted carjacking that occurred last week in southeast Bend; including searching for the firearm. While reviewing video surveillance, officers found evidence of the suspect attempting entry into a home on SW Hayes Avenue. After an extensive canvass of the area, on Sunday Bend Police located the handgun on that property.
The suspect, a 24-year-old Klamath Falls man, was contacted at the Deschutes County Jail and cited on additional charges of suspicion of first-degree attempted burglary and felon in possession of a firearm. He remains in the Deschutes County Jail.
At approximately 7:23 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 4, Bend Police responded to a 911 call of an armed carjacking in the 300 block of SE Reed Market Road.
When officers arrived, they spoke to the victim, a 48-year-old Bend resident, who reported that she had been approached by an unknown man who pointed a gun at her and ordered her out of her vehicle. She ran from the vehicle, taking her keys but leaving her cell phone, and while on a family member’s phone called 911, reporting she could see the suspect in her car.
When police arrived, the victim’s car was where she had left it, but her cell phone was gone. The victim provided a detailed description of the suspect, and officers, including drone operators and K9 Billy and his partner, began searching for the suspect.
After an extensive search, officers located the victim’s phone in the nearby McDonald’s parking lot. At approximately 8:26 p.m., a Bend Police officer located the suspect in the parking lot of AutoZone Auto Parts in the 1300 block of South Highway 97.
The suspect, who had recently arrived in Bend from Klamath Falls, was taken into custody and transported to the Deschutes County Jail on suspicion of first-degree robbery, first-degree theft, unlawful entry into a motor vehicle, unlawful use of a motor vehicle, menacing, unlawful use of a weapon, and pointing a firearm at another.
