PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – When deputies with the Lane County Sheriff’s Office found a stolen car being driven on Cloverdale Road, its driver refused to pull over and led them on a high-speed chase Friday evening in Creswell, police said.
30-year old Kyle Kalcich fled eastbound on Highway 58 and then north toward Springfield, according to LCSO, but deputies lost track of the car.
Bystanders tipped off police that Kalcich headed north, where police continued the chase and found the stolen car crashed near the intersection of Jasper and Bob Straub Parkway Roads. Police said Kalcich fled that scene, too, but this time on foot, and then, by swimming across the Willamette River.
Deputies crossed the river and, with some help from a K9 unit, found the driver hiding underneath blackberry bushes, police said.
Kalcich was arrested and is being charged with:
- Unauthorized use of a motor vehicle
- Possession of a stolen vehicle
- Elude by vehicle
- Elude by foot
- Reckless driving
- Reckless endangering