Perhaps the only thing that stopped a Bend man from stealing his sixth car in a little more than an hour Sunday morning was that there were no keys in the ignition.

And when Forster was attempting to steal the sixth car, he allegedly tried to convince the car owner to give him the keys after waking her up at home, said Sgt. Shane Nelson of the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office. The woman called the police.

"He kept going until finally someone was able to witness him committing a crime and he was finally able to be caught," said Sgt. Merlin Toney with the Sheriff's office.

Nelson said Foster's spree was made easier because four of the cars he allegedly stole had been unlocked with the keys in the ignition.

Though there was a trail of property damage, Forster was the only person who was hurt. He was treated and released at the hospital for his injuries, then booked into police custody on on suspicion of theft, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and driving under the influence of intoxicants and other charges.

Forster allegedly stole the Bend Police patrol car outside of a club called On the Rocks on NW Oregon Avenue at about 2 a.m. Sunday morning, Nelson said. Forster appeared to be under the influence of intoxicants, Nelson said, that may have included substances besides alcohol.

He then allegedly stole a 2004 Chevrolet Impala from the house in an attempt to get away.

At about 2:45 a.m., police found the Impala wrecked and abandoned in a ditch after responding to a report of a car crash on Highway 20 West near Dayton Road, Nelson said.

While police were investigating the Impala crash, they were called to a nearby residence on Concorde Lane at around 3 a.m. where a man had been trying to steal a Toyota 4-Runner, Nelson said. Police found Forster in the vehicle and arrested him with the help of a K-9 unit.

An investigation revealed that after crashing the Impala, Forster allegedly stole a 1999 Toyota Sienna minivan off Concorde Lane near Highway 20, but hit a neighbor's fence, Nelson said.

Forster then allegedly stole the neighbor's 1994 Mazda pickup and drove it into a gate. He abandoned the pickup and then took a 2003 Chevrolet Suburban that had a small utility trailer attached to it, Nelson said. Forster allegedly drove the Suburban through a gated driveway and across a lawn where it became stuck on a pile of rocks at the edge of the yard, Nelson said.

Nelson said he could only remember one other case where a car had been stolen from a law enforcement officer. In 1995, a suspect stole a patrol unit from a Deschutes County sheriff, but it was recovered.

Despite the string of cars that Forster had allegedly managed to swipe, Nelson pointed out that it only took officers a little more than an hour to catch Forster. He said that the officers had been trying to search miles of rural roads with a limited number of patrol units.

"We rely heavily on citizen input and that's how we eventually located the suspect," Nelson said.

Toney said Forster had been the subject of a police chase last year involving officers from Black Butte Ranch and the Deschutes County Sheriff's Office after he was stopped during a routine traffic stop.

The charges Forster may face are:

• Five counts of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle;

• One count of attempted unauthorized use of a vehicle;

• Two counts of first-degree theft;

• One count of possession of a weapon by a felon;

• One count of resisting arrest;

• Five counts of driving under the influence of intoxicants;

• Three counts of reckless driving;

• Three counts of hit and run property damage;

• Five counts of second-degree criminal mischief;

• Two counts of interfering with a police animal;

• And six counts of unlawful entry into a vehicle.