PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Three individuals accused of stealing a trailer early Friday morning were arrested after a K9 and drone team found them hiding in bushes, according to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
Just after 3:15 a.m., deputies responded to a reported theft on SW Wolsborn Ave., where officials say a flatbed trailer was stolen by people in a dark green pickup truck.
The truck and trailer were located by a deputy on SW Laurelview Road and SW Finnegan Hill Road. Authorities say the driver of the truck attempted to turn around, but jackknifed the trailer and hit a stop sign. The deputy tried to pin his patrol car against the truck so the driver couldn’t leave, but the truck was able to get around the patrol car after ramming into it and causing significant damage, according to WCSO.
When authorities later discovered the truck in the 29000 block of SW McNay Road, the vehicle was unoccupied, WCSO said.
A K9 team with Hillsboro police and a drone from the WCSO Remotely Operated Vehicle Team began to search for the individuals. The K9 crew initially found a gun in the car that was stolen in Tillamook in 2019, officials said. Deputies also learned that the truck, a 2007 Ford F250, was stolen.
Moments later, the drone captured a thermal image of people hiding in some brush nearby. It was there that deputies, along with the K9 unit, located 36-year-old Daniel Crum, who was arrested without incident, WCSO said.
Two others, Nicole Gillis, 43, and James Griffith, 44, were also found and arrested and charged with two counts of unlawful use of a motor vehicle and two counts of possession of a stolen vehicle.
Crum faces several additional charges, including:
- Attempted assault of a peace officer
- Attempted assault in the second degree
- Unlawful use of a weapon
- Three counts of criminal mischief in the first degree
- Criminal mischief in the second degree
- Theft in the second degree
- Failure to perform the duties of a driver when property is damaged (hit-and-run)
- Driving while suspended (misdemeanor)
Crum, Gillis, and Griffith were all lodged in the Washington County Jail.