Driver allegedly crashes stolen vehicle, flees, later captured

Courtesy McMinnville Police Department##Police investigated the crash of a reported stolen vehicle early Friday morning on Three Mile Lane.

A Hillsboro man was captured with the assistance of a K-9 team after allegedly crashing a stolen SUV and then fleeing the scene on foot early Friday morning.

Police identified him as Caleb Watson Sprenger, 32, who had warrants for his arrest in Clackamas and Multnomah counties.

Interim Police Capt Scott Fessler gave this account of the incident:

Shortly before 5:30 a.m., police and McMinnville Fire Department personnel responded to the crash on Three Mile Lane near the entrance to McMinnville Municipal Airport.

Only the vehicle, a 2017 Jeep Patriot, was located in a field on the north side of the highway when officers first arrived.

It had been traveling westbound on Three Mile Lane when it left the highway, struck a driveway incline, crashed through a wooden highway sign and then hit a utility pole, breaking it off at ground level and about halfway up the pole. The vehicle was totaled.

Neither the driver nor any occupants could be located, and it was soon determined the vehicle was reported stolen to the Portland Police Bureau several hours earlier.

A canine tracking team was requested from the Newberg-Dundee Police Department, and Officer Paul Rapet and canine Sam responded to the location.

Sam led officers north onto the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum campus. Sprenger was soon located hiding in a thicket of blackberries on the north side of the museum and transported to the Willamette Valley Medical Center for treatment of injuries sustained in the crash.

A search warrant was requested and granted for collection of blood and urine samples for him based upon probable cause that he was driving under the influence of intoxicants.

When released from the hospital, he was booked into jail on one count each of second-degree criminal mischief, driving under the influence of intoxicants, failure to perform the duties of a driver, felon in possession of a firearm, possession of a stolen vehicle, reckless driving and unlawful use of a motor vehicle.

Additionally, there were the warrants for his arrest out of Clackamas and Multnomah counties.

He is lodged in jail without bail pending arraignment in circuit court.