MEDFORD, Ore. – A man who led police on a slow-speed chase in a stolen RV is now in the Jackson County Jail.
A parking garage on Fir Street is where the police chase ultimately came to an end. The RV was just too tall to make it through.
Now, the driver is in custody and police are continuing to investigate.
Witness Rick Mowery said, “Woke up to police going around the block, and lots of sirens, lots of noise.”
It wasn’t the wakeup call Mowery was expecting. “Came out to check it out and saw this RV parked here,” he said.
According to police, that RV led officers on a chase into downtown Medford.
They first spotted it on Highway 99 and Valley View Road early Wednesday morning.
Medford Police Lieutenant Justin Ivens said, “This motorhome, along with the tow vehicle that was behind it was obstructing traffic.”
According to Lt. Ivens, Oregon State Police tried to wake up the people inside, but couldn’t. Instead, they marked the RV to be towed.
Lt. Ivens explained, “Later on, he—the trooper—comes back, observes some additional violations with the vehicle and how it’s parked. So he tries to reach out to the registered owner of the vehicle via phone.”
After talking with police, the owner went to check his RV, which as it turns out, wasn’t there. It had been stolen.
But by then, police say the RV was on the move. “The officers attempted to block the vehicle in, and the driver proceeded to take off, ramming the front of the OSP patrol car,” Lt. Ivens said.
Police said the slow-moving pursuit spanned downtown Medford. Officers even tried using spike strips to stop the RV.
But it was a low-ceiling parking garage that finally did the trick. “Ultimately came into this back alley and really nowhere to go at this point, and was kind of blocked in here, and we were able to take the suspect into custody,” Lt. Ivens said.
That suspect, 34-year-old Aubrey Rain General, is facing numerous charges including reckless driving and reckless endangering another person.
Police said there was a young child in the RV at the time. Officers were able to get the child to safety when the RV was pulled over.
Police said there were no injuries to report.
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