Phone App leads to pursuit and recovery of stolen Dodge Charger in TD on Feb. 12
By Tom Peterson
Police got a huge assist in a stolen vehicle recovery as a phone left in the car was used to track it, on Sunday, Feb. 12.
The Stolen Dodge Charger traveled more than 60 miles and was pursued for about half an hour on the backroads off Wasco County and then through The Dalles before spikes were deployed to blow the front tires.
The Charger was stolen from The Dalles Marina Parking lot after its owner TD High School senior Kayden McCavic went on an evening run at around 5:30 p.m.
When Kayden returned to the parking lot, his vehicle was missing.
His mother, Kristi Timmons reported the vehicle stolen at about 6:15 p.m.
“I could immediately tell where it was,” she said today, Feb. 13. “The car had initially driven out to Wasco.”
Timmons said her son’s phone, which was in the car, had an app that located where the phone was traveling in the car through GPS.
“It was crazy,” she said of being able to track the vehicle as it was under the control of a thief. “It was disturbing.”
The Charger was initially tracked between Church and Wilson Streets in Wasco in Sherman County. It then went north near Deschutes State Park and took Old Moody Road towards 15 Mile Road, according to the Wasco County Sheriff’s Log.
The Charger drove past Petersburg School at around 6:27 p.m. and it passed an officer who then pursued the car.
Pursuit speeds reached 94 miles per hour, according to the log, as the Charger straddled the center line near the Celilo Inn Motel and blew past Big Jim’s.
Officers ahead of the pursuit deployed spike strips to blow the Charger’s tires.
The Charger navigated the roundabout in The Dalles and drove down west Second Street eventually passing Autozone when police reported blown tires on the Charger’s front end.
The vehicle continued, running on rims, out West Second Street, past Casa El Mirador before the pursuit came to an end on the railroad access road under the exit 82 overpass, according to the log.
Police arrested Christopher Sean Christopher, 35, and he was later lodged at NORCOR on multiple charges connected with the vehicle theft.
Click to enlarge. Screenshot of NORCOR booking page.
“Had we not had that app, it’s very unlikely we would not have found the car,” said Timmons.
