Clark County sheriff’s deputies were kept busy Tuesday evening chasing a man whom they say was involved in a crime spree that includes the alleged theft of three vehicles and an attempted theft of a fourth.
The incident began when a deputy encountered a driver distracted by his cellphone that nearly hit him head-on about 6:40 p.m. Tuesday in the 2300 block of Northeast Lockwood Creek Road, just east of La Center, the Clark County Sheriff’s Office said.
The deputy attempted a traffic stop, but after initial contact, the driver fled the stop and drove down a nearby road toward several rural residences, the sheriff’s office said.
The vehicle had been reported stolen in Portland, according to the sheriff’s office.
More deputies arrived to help and noticed a black truck leaving the same area in a reckless manner, so they tried to stop it as the truck sped east on Lockwood Creek Road. At the same time, a woman reported to deputies that her black truck had just been stolen, according to the sheriff’s office.
The driver of the truck refused to stop and continued traveling east. Deputies set up spike strips in the area of Northeast Gable Avenue and 339th Street, which successfully stopped the vehicle, the sheriff’s office said.
The driver abandoned the truck and jumped into an unoccupied Subaru at a residence in the area of 339th Street and 118th Ave, deputies said.
The suspect drove the Subaru west on Northeast 339th Street, but due to excessive speed, deputies said, the driver lost control of the vehicle and struck a utility pole in the 10200 block of Northeast 339th Street, severing the power pole.
The suspect again fled, but was found a few minutes later after a nearby resident flagged down a deputy, and told them someone was trying to steal their truck and was still inside their vehicle, the sheriff’s office said.
Deputies took the man, identified as Adam Watts, 31, into custody without further incident. The deputy involved in the initial stop positively identified Watts as the man involved.
Watts, who’s listed in court documents as a transient, appeared Wednesday morning in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of three counts of possession of a stolen motor vehicle, two counts of attempting to elude, two counts of theft of a motor vehicle, two counts of first-degree robbery, second-degree robbery, second-degree malicious mischief and first-degree kidnapping. He also has a felony Department of Corrections warrant.
Judge Derek Vanderwood set his bail at $300,000. He will be arraigned June 14.
Reporter Jessica Prokop contributed to this report.
