A burglar was arrested after stealing gun and then jumping from ambulance during transport in an attempt to escape. Bend Police responded Monday morning to a report of a break-in at Hammer Down Firearms in the 1200 block of NE Third Street.
When officers arrived, they found a broken window at the front of the building and a firearm on the floor. The window had bars on it. Employees determined that a Noveske short-barrel rifle, a suppressor and a green dot sight were missing from the store.
Surveillance video showed a person, later identified as 19-year-old Bend man, breaking the window with bolt cutters and reaching in through the bars to take the gun around 2:35 a.m.
At approximately 4 p.m., officers located the suspect at a transient camp in the area of SE Second and Aune streets. The suspect had a backpack and bolt cutters on the ground next to him. Officers recovered the gun, as well as fentanyl, from the backpack.
After officers transported the suspect to the Deschutes County Jail, he told jail staff he’d swallowed 10 fentanyl pills, so officers requested paramedics to transport him, handcuffed, to St. Charles Bend. An officer followed the ambulance.
En route to the hospital near NE 27th Street and Rosemary Drive, the suspect escaped from the ambulance and ran eastbound across 27th Street with his hands still cuffed behind his back. The officer following the ambulance got out of his patrol car and ran after him. When he attempted to jump a fence on NE Atherton Court, the officer was able to take him into custody.
Officers returned the suspect to the Deschutes County Jail, where he was charged with Theft I, Burglary II, Criminal Mischief II, Possession of a Prohibited Firearm, Escape II, Criminal Trespass II, Initiating a False Report.
