A police chase through town ended Tuesday afternoon when the suspect took a very wrong turn onto a dead-end road — one leading directly to the Canby Rod and Gun Club.
Canby Police Lt. Jorge Tro tells The Canby Current that officers received a call from Clackamas County dispatchers at approximately 3:13 p.m. that a suspicious vehicle had been observed driving erratically near the Blue Heron paper mill in Oregon City and was headed southbound on Highway 99E toward Canby.
“The officer spotted the driver,” Lt. Tro told the Current. “It looked like he was trying to steal the balloons there outside of Coffee Doodle Doo, and she seemed to be arguing with an attendant.”
The man, later identified as Jody Michael Mark, 51, made a reckless U-turn in the parking lot of the Chevron, Tro said, turned left onto Highway 99E and proceeded north — back toward Oregon City.
The officer flashed his lights and attempted to initiate a traffic stop, but Mark allegedly refused to pull over. He turned right onto Sequoia Parkway, headed toward south Canby, as more units joined the pursuit.
At Southeast 13th Avenue, Mark made the ill-advised decision to continue onto the graveled portion of South Molalla Forest Road near the gun club, which is a dead-end street.
Tro said Marks attempted to make a U-turn and exit the area, but Canby police had already blocked off the road and set up spike strips. The suspect saw the spikes and stopped before running over them.
Mark was ordered to exit his car, but he was not obeying police commands, Tro reported. A K-9 unit that assisted from the Oregon City Police Department was deployed and was successful in removing the suspect from the vehicle.
Tro said the police dog entered the car through an open window. Mark was bit during the incident. Paramedics were called to treat the suspect on scene, and he was taken into custody without further incident.
Mark was booked at the Clackamas County Jail, where he remained as of Wednesday afternoon. He was charged with attempt to elude a police officer, reckless driving, reckless endangering and interfering with a peace officer.
He initially faced an additional count of reckless driving and attempt to elude, as well as one charge of third-degree theft, but these were dismissed, according to online jail records. His bail is set at $17,500.
