April 10, 2020 9:50 a.m.
A Eugene man is on the run after a police pursuit on Thursday night.
A report from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said just after 7:00 p.m. a deputy saw a vehicle he knew to be stolen pull into the parking area in the 200 block of Bear Creek Road in Drain before it quickly exited back onto the road. As the vehicle pulled out, the deputy was able to confirm that the driver was 39-year old Thomas Grimes Junior.
The report said Grimes immediately sped onto Curtin Road and a pursuit was initiated. Speeds were approximately 80 miles per hour. The suspect allegedly pushed a vehicle off the road in the 200 block of Curtin Road. Grimes continued through a gravel wide-spot and the ditch at the intersection of the Curtin Road and Highway 38. The suspect failed to stop and crashed into the guardrail on the other side of the highway at a high rate of speed.
The report said the suspect continued west on Highway 38 and pushed a second vehicle off the road. The man then reportedly began to play “chicken” with a semi-truck pulling doubles. The driver went onto the shoulder and pushed the semi into the deputy’s lane of travel. The pursuit was terminated at that point.
A short time later the deputy came across a man confronting someone. The second person had reportedly turned around at the 200 block of Rock Creek Road and the homeowner thought he was in a vehicle on the property. That man was contacted and said a woman had fled from his vehicle. She returned a short time later and was detained on previous warrants. The report said the man contacted was going to drop off the woman with Grimes, the suspect from the pursuit.
Additional deputies along with a K9 arrived and searched the Rock Creek area without success. They did find the stolen vehicle, which had crashed through a fir tree and then got stuck in a mud bog.