A man from Molalla and one from Clackamas were arrested for attempted theft in the Clackamas Promenade parking lot last week while trying to get a jump start for their getaway car, according to deputies.
The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office responded to Kohl’s at 3:30 p.m. Nov. 30. A loss prevention officer reported seeing a man running out of the story carrying stolen merchandise. A second suspect was seen next to a car.
When the first suspect reached the car, it appeared the suspects realized the battery was dead, deputies later said.
Investigators said the suspects then began asking other people in the parking lot for a jump start for their car.
When deputies arrived, the suspects had the hood up on their car and were still trying to get a jump.
Raymond Allen Stavig, 41, of Molalla, and Derek Richard Benjamin Shurts, 27, of Clackamas, were taken into custody.
Deputies said Shurts stole the items from the store and was also carrying counterfeit $100 bills in his pocket.
Additional items recovered from the car were bags of clothing from other stores, several laptops and phones, multiple credit cards with different names, a magnetic card reader and writer, thumb drives, Oregon ID cards, more counterfeit bills, as well as methamphetamine and cocaine, according to deputies.
Stavig claimed all these items belonged to his wife, police said. He also offered additional explanations, including that one of the credit cards belonged to a friend who let him use it to buy gasoline.
Investigators said that card was later found to have been used by Stavig to buy items at Dick’s Sporting Goods and Target that day. It had not been used to purchase fuel.
Shurts told deputies that Stavig offered him $1,000 if he would take the blame for everything. Shurts declined.
Deputies identified and contacted the owner of a laptop and phone in Stavig’s car and learned those items were in a car that was stolen in Portland.
Information from the credit cards allowed deputies to identify nine victims of identity theft.
Stavig was arrested on charges including theft, possession of meth and a warrant out of Multnomah County for aggravated identify theft. Shurts was arrested on charges of second-degree theft, possession of a forgery instrument and a warrant out of Crook County for possession of heroin.
Stavig was booked into the Clackamas County Jail, but Shurts was not booked into jail due to a medical condition, according to the sheriff’s office.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact the sheriff’s office tip line at 503-723-4949 or clackamas.us/sheriff/tip and reference case no. 20-025559.
