Portland police: Man steals truck with owner holding on top
By Fox 12 Staff
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PORTLAND, Oregon (KPTV) — One man is facing felony charges after Portland police say he stole a pickup truck while the owner was holding on top.
On Wednesday, at 5:47 a.m., officers were dispatched to a report of a stolen vehicle in the area of Southwest 3rd Avenue and Southwest Oak Street. Additional calls began coming in reporting a pickup being driven recklessly with its owner clinging to ladders mounted on the roof rack.
Officers located the vehicle driving south on Barbur Boulevard onto Southwest Capitol Highway and then Southwest Beaverton Hillsdale Highway. They saw the owner still holding onto the top, yelling for help.
Officers saw the suspect driver jerking the wheel in an apparent attempt to shake the owner off. Due to the extremely dangerous situation, officers followed from a distance, trying to keep other traffic away from the truck, while developing a plan to get the truck safely stopped and rescue the victim.
The driver did a U-turn, onto Bertha Boulevard, to northbound I-5, to northbound I-405, and onto Highway 26 westbound. The suspect exited the highway on Southwest Canyon Road. The victim was able to jump into the bed of the truck and then finally jumped out onto a patch of grass near Southwest Canyon Road and Southwest Canyon Lane in Beaverton.
Officers were able to confront the suspect when he drove down a dead-end street, and he was taken into custody.
The victim was not seriously injured. The investigation revealed that he was working on a billboard, using his truck rack as a ladder to access the billboard platform when he saw the suspect rummaging around in the truck. The victim tried to get down but the suspect began driving away before he could.
Detectives booked the suspect, Jacob E. Sopher, 36, of Portland, into the Multnomah County Detention Center on charges of robbery in the first degree, kidnapping in the second degree, reckless driving, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, and reckless endangering.
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