If you ever have to elude police, you might want to try it on a day that your footprints can’t be tracked by freshly fallen snow. Still, it almost worked.
The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office, working with Oregon State Police, Canby Police Department and Molalla Police Department, tracked a suspect for two and a half hours in icy conditions Tuesday morning before finding their man with the help of K9 officer Grimm and his partner, Deputy Erik McGlothin.
Grimm joined the chase, which included operations in the Carus area of Township and Central Point roads east of Canby, shortly before 11 a.m. on Tuesday.
McGlothin said he and Grimm were called to assist after the suspect, 35-year-old Jacob Allen Lieberman, crashed his car and attempted to flee into the woods. The deputy estimated the pair covered almost three miles on foot before finally locating Lieberman, hiding out in a patch of dense brush and undergrowth.
“This is the longest track we’ve ever been on, by a long shot,” McGlothin said. “Plus, there was snow, ice, thick mud, wooded areas, a marsh and ravines. The suspect told me he figured he’d gone far enough that we wouldn’t follow him and would just give up.”
Unfortunately for him, no such luck. Lieberman was lodged in Clackamas County Jail on charges that include reckless driving, attempting to elude a police officer, possession of a forged instrument and recklessly endangering. Bail was set at $27,500.
