Stolen motorhome leads to 2.5-hour freeway shutdown

An investigation into a stolen motor home on Interstate 205 Saturday led to a 2½-hour freeway shutdown that ended when SWAT team members forced entry and found that the vehicle was unoccupied.

The incident began about 3 p.m. when officers stopped the motor home about a half mile north of the Mill Plain Boulevard interchange in the freeway’s northbound lanes and discovered that the vehicle had been reported stolen, according to emergency radio traffic.

The driver of the vehicle fled, but officers reported seeing motion inside the vehicle. They called for anyone inside to come out, but no one responded.

With the possibility of a barricaded subject holed up in a vehicle along a busy freeway, officers shut down the freeway and called in SWAT team members to deal with the situation. Armored vehicles and remote viewing devices were brought in, and officers use loudspeakers to repeat their call for anyone inside the RV to exit the vehicle.

During the closure, southbound traffic was diverted to westbound state Highway 500, while northbound traffic was routed off the freeway onto Mill Plain Boulevard.

The northbound backup stretched well over the Glenn Jackson Bridge into Oregon. Southbound lanes were opened for a time but were closed again as the SWAT team prepared to enter the vehicle.

At about 5:20 p.m., officers pried open the motor home’s door and searched the vehicle. No one was found inside.

All lanes reopened to traffic at 5:35 p.m., though it longer for the back-up to clear.