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@WCSOOregon
On Friday, February 3, 2023, at 3:17 a.m., Washington County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a theft call in the 26000 block of SW Wolsborn Avenue. Deputies learned that a dark green pickup stole a flatbed trailer, and the trailer owner watched the truck drive away.
A deputy in the area located the truck and trailer at SW Laurelview Road and SW Finnegan Hill Road. The driver of the truck tried to turn around but jackknifed the trailer and hit a stop sign. The deputy attempted to pin the truck in with his patrol car so the driver could not leave. The truck managed to get around the patrol car, but in doing so, it rammed the patrol car, causing significant damage, and hit a telephone pole. The patrol car was disabled, and the truck left the area heading east on SW Laurelview Road.
Deputies and officers from Hillsboro Police Department searched for the truck and trailer and located it at a home in the 29000 block of SW McNay Road. The vehicle was unoccupied
A canine team from Hillsboro Police Department and a drone from the Sheriff’s Office Remotely Operated Vehicle Team (ROVT) helped search for the occupants in the vehicle. While searching for the truck’s occupants, the canine team found a handgun on the ground. Deputies later learned the gun was stolen in Tillamook in 2019.
A short time later, the drone, equipped with a thermal camera, saw a thermal image that appeared to be people hiding in some brush. The canine unit and deputies on the ground went to the area and located 36-year-old Daniel Crum of Cornelius, hiding in the bushes. Crum was arrested without incident.
After Crum was arrested, the drone found another thermal image. The canine unit and deputies on the ground went to the area and found two others: 43-year-old Nicole Gillis of Hillsboro and 44-year-old James Lee Griffith of Beaverton.
Deputies learned the truck, a 2007 Ford F250, was stolen out of The Dalles, and the license plates on the truck were stolen out of Tigard.
Crum was arrested on the listed charges and outstanding warrants.
- Two counts of unlawful use of a motor vehicle
- Two counts of possession of a stolen vehicle
- Attempted assault of a peace officer
- Attempted assault in the second degree
- Unlawful use of a weapon
- Three counts of criminal mischief in the first degree
- Criminal mischief in the second degree
- Theft in the second degree
- Failure to perform the duties of a driver when property is damaged (hit and run)
- Driving while suspended (misdemeanor)
Gillis and Griffith are each being charged with the following:
- Two counts of unlawful use of a motor vehicle
- Two counts of possession of a stolen vehicle
Crum, Gillis, and Griffith were all lodged in the Washington County jail. Additional charges are pending further investigation.