Oregon State Police received reports about a white Mercedes driving recklessly on Interstate 5. A trooper spotted the car and pulled it over. When the trooper told the driver he was under arrest, the man replied, “No, I am not,” and drove away, police said in a statement. Law enforcement chased him, but again gave up due to safety concerns.
In a call that now sounds bizarre, Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office deputies were called to a “suspicious circumstance”: a man wearing yellow pants and pink shoes was dancing in the middle of a street in Wilsonville. The man matched the description Oregon State Police had put out about the Mercedes driver from earlier in the morning. The deputies tried to talk to the man, but he fled in the Mercedes, hitting a deputy’s parked patrol car in the process.
In addition, Tualatin Police Officers were dispatched to a suspicious circumstance call at Cabela’s, located at 7555 SW Nyberg Street. The caller reported a man was running through the store acting erratic and yelling obscenities. Officers arrived on the scene and recognized the Mercedes that matched the one from the two pursuits earlier in the day. Again, the suspect fled the area at high speed and officers did not engage in pursuit due to heavy foot traffic and public safety. The suspects car crashed into another car that caused no injuries and continued to flee.
Due to the dangerous nature of his driving and the danger to the public, officers shut down SW Pacific Highway near SW Tualatin Sherwood Rd to protect the public; due to officers from multiple agencies attempting several deployments of spike strips throughout Sherwood and on SW Pacific Highway.
The suspect avoided the spike strips by turning around and driving on the wrong side of the highway at high speed, and drove head-on at several police vehicles. The Mercedes came across another set of spikes, attempted to turn around, became high-centered, and was simultaneously boxed in. The driver was immediately taken into custody and identified as Steven J. Denham, age 38, of Bothell, Washington.
Denham faces the following charges from the following agencies:
Oregon State Police:
- ORS 811.540 Attempting to Elude a Police Officer (felony)
- ORS 811.140 Reckless Driving
- ORS 163.195 Reckless Endangering
- ORS 162.145 Escape in the Third Degree
Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office:
- ORS 811.540 Attempting to Elude a Police Officer (felony)
- ORS 811.140 Reckless Driving
- ORS 163.195 Reckless Endangering
Tualatin Police Department:
- ORS 811.540 Attempting to Elude a Police Officer (felony)
- ORS 811.700 Failure to Perform the Duties of a Driver
Sherwood Police Department:
- ORS 163.175 Attempted Assault in the First Degree (Five counts)
- ORS 163.208 Attempted Assault on a Public Safety Officer (Five counts)
- ORS 811.540 Attempting to Elude a Police Officer (Three counts)
- ORS 163.195 Reckless Endangering (Five counts)
- ORS 811.140 Reckless Driving (Four Counts)
- ORS 811.231 Reckless Endangerment of Highway Workers
- ORS 813.010 Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants
- ORS 811.700 Failure to Perform the Duties of a Driver
- ORS 164.345 Criminal Mischief in the Third Degree.
