Driver of stolen car in custody after ramming Tigard police cars in Walmart parking lot
By: -----
A Portland man faces dozens of criminal charges after he was arrested Monday, four days after a police pursuit in Tigard in which he rammed into patrol cars with a stolen car, ran over a fire hydrant and nearly hit at least two officers, Tigard police said.
The man, later identified as 47-year-old Richard Wilson, was arrested Monday.
Police had been searching for Wilson since Thursday morning. Just after 10 a.m., officers responded to reports of a stolen car. Officers met with a man in Portland who had tracked his car stolen that morning to a Walmart parking lot in Tigard. Two detectives wearing plain clothes responded and witnessed a man and woman coming out of the store and getting into the stolen car, Tigard police said.
Officers in marked patrol cars attempted to box in the stolen car to try and prevent the driver from leaving. According to Tigard police, the driver then rammed several police cars and other parked cars, before putting the car into reverse and going up and over a curb and fire hydrant to get away, nearly hitting at least two officers in the process. At least four police cars and two other parked cars were damaged.
The driver led police on a chase on I-5 toward Portland, but the pursuit was called off due to safety reasons, Tigard police said. No injuries were reported.
The next day, Portland police recovered the stolen car and identified Wilson.
On Monday, officers located Wilson near an apartment complex on Southwest Hunziker Road. Wilson ran from officers through a wooded area, and a K-9 team tracked him to a collapsed pop-up trailer in the backyard of a home on Southwest Cherry Drive.
Law enforcement closed several roads in Tigard around Southwest Hunziker Road, Southwest 72nd Avenue, Wall and Tech Center Drive. For over an hour, officers tried to get Wilson to come out, Tigard police said. The Washington County Tactical Negotiation Team and Crisis Negotiations Unit responded to assist, along with drone teams from Tigard and Sherwood.
Wilson eventually came out and was taken into custody. He's being lodged at the Washington County Jail and faces 20 criminal charges, including six counts of recklessly endangering, four counts of hit-and-run and four counts of criminal mischief.