PORTLAND, Ore. — A man attempting to escape from police in Portland, Oregon, was arrested after hiding on a roof and in a tree, authorities said.
Kenneth Robert Wirth, 31, was arrested Friday and charged with attempting to elude and failure to perform duty of driver when property is damaged, according to Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office online booking records.
Officers with the Portland Police Department responded to a welfare check when they discovered a man, later identified as Wirth, unconscious behind the wheel of a vehicle, KOIN-TV reported.
Police set up spike strips and turned off the engine of the vehicle before waking the man up, according to the television station.
Wirth then woke up and drove the car away, hitting the spike strips as he fled the scene, according to KOIN.
Several minutes later, the vehicle was found unoccupied. Police soon observed the suspect on the roof of a nearby home, the television station reported.
Police said that Wirth jumped off the roof and hid again, KOIN reported. He was found hiding in a tree in the backyard of a nearby residence. Police talked to Wirth for an hour before persuading him to descend from the tree, according to the television station.
Wirth was arrested and booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center, online records show.
Wirth’s bail was set at $30,000, according to online records.