Three men from Seattle were arrested Wednesday night in connection with a string of burglaries in Central Oregon. According to Bend Police:
On Monday, Aug. 14, Bend Police responded to U-Haul in the 63000 block of North U.S. Highway 97 after the store’s manager reported someone had used a rock to break the glass door, enter the shop and steal a variety of vehicle keys. The suspect also attempted to gain access to the cash drawer, but failed. Two U-Haul trucks had also been stolen from the store.
A Deschutes County Sheriff’s deputy found one of the stolen vehicles on Tuesday, Aug. 15 near Sunriver.
On Tuesday, Aug. 22, officers responded to a report of a burglary at Oxarc, Inc., in the 20000 block of Robal Lane. Officers learned that the suspects arrived at the business in a U-Haul truck, shot out the front door of the business with a firearm, then stole four welding units from the business.
At approximately 2:35 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 23, Bend Police assisted Deschutes County Sheriff’s deputies on a report of a burglary at the Camp Abbot Trading Post & Ace Hardware in Sunriver. A caller reported that the suspects were driving a U-Haul pickup truck. Officers recovered the unoccupied U-Haul vehicle in Sunriver Village.
Also on Wednesday, Aug. 23, employees at the Deschutes County Solid Waste Transfer Station in La Pine reported the building had been broken into and property had been stolen.
During the course of the investigation, Bend Police and Deschutes County Sheriff’s deputies learned that a white Jeep with a black top was associated with the burglaries. A deputy saw the Jeep in the area of Base Camp Grill in Sunriver and contacted its occupants. Officers contacted the Jeep’s owner, who is out of state and not connected to the burglaries, and learned the Jeep’s occupants were likely living at her property in the 55000 block of Lazy River Drive in the Three Rivers area.
At approximately 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 23, the Central Oregon Emergency Response Team, Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office and Bend detectives conducted a search warrant on the property and the Jeep. Officers recovered all of the stolen property from Oxarc, Inc., U-Haul, Camp Abbot Trading Post and the county’s solid waste transfer station, as well as four guns and a large amount of ammunition.
