News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
A Sisters businessman made a brief stop in town on Friday evening and left his Chevy pickup truck running, with the keys in the ignition.
When he finished his errand, his truck was gone. Thinking at first that somebody was playing a prank on him, the man looked for his truck. There was no sign of the rig. He called the sheriff's office, then called his wife and told her what had happened.
She was shopping in Bend and decided to drive out to Tumalo to watch Highway 20 in hopes of spotting their truck.
While a sheriff's deputy was taking a report on the theft, a call came across the radio that the stolen truck had been spotted. The man's wife in Tumalo had seen the truck heading eastbound toward Bend, got behind the truck and called the sighting in on her cell phone.
According to Deschutes County Sheriff's Office reports, a deputy spotted the truck at Robal Road and Highway 20.
He followed the truck onto Highway 97 in Bend, where the truck pulled into a Burger King. Deputies descended and arrested the driver, 22-year-old Jeffrey Lee Donner of Portland.
Deputies also arrested Donner's 14-year-old female companion.
According to sheriff's office reports, Donner had an outstanding warrant out of Portland for Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle (UUV). He had allegedly stolen a car in Portland and driven to Bend, where he abandoned the car. Donner and the girl then allegedly found a 1977 Dodge pickup in the parking lot of Supply Depot, with its engine running.
The pair allegedly drove that truck to Sisters, where they abandoned it and stole the Chevy pickup to drive back to Bend.
During the investigation, police discovered that Donner had had sexual intercourse with the underage girl, who was reportedly a runaway from Portland.
Donner was booked at Deschutes County Jail on charges of Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle, third degree rape and second degree sexual abuse, along with the warrant out of Portland.
The 14-year-old girl was taken to Deschutes County Juvenile Detention as a runaway and on charges of UUV.
All the stolen vehicles were recovered.
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