Prisoner, 42, who stole and wrecked deputy's patrol vehicle,
faces felony charges


Thursday, January 14, 1999
By Jean Senior, correspondent, The Oregonian

HOOD RIVER -- A prisoner who stole a Sherman County sheriffs  4-wheel-
drive vehicle Tuesday and eluded authorities for more than two hours 
faces a long list of felony charges.

Mark William Collins, 42, was arraigned Wednesday on two counts of first-
degree robbery, one count each of aggravated theft, unauthorized use 
of a motorized vehicle, attempted assault in the first degree, felon 
in possession of a weapon and first-degree escape.

Collins, who is from Albany, had appeared Tuesday in a Sherman County 
court, where he was convicted of second-degree forgery and second-degree 
theft and sentenced to a year in jail. Wearing handcuffs and a bright 
orange jail coverall, he was locked in the back seat of the patrol car 
for transport to the Klickitat County jail in Goldendale, Wash.

The deputy driving the patrol vehicle stopped on U.S. 97 to assist another 
deputy in a traffic stop. While the deputy was out of the car, Collins 
somehow got out of the back seat and behind the wheel of the patrol car 
and drove away.

Oregon State Police Senior Trooper Larry Tatom said he saw the car speeding
north on U.S. 97, going an estimated 80 to 90 mph, with the overhead
lights flashing and a man in an orange jail jumpsuit behind the wheel. 
By the time Tatom turned around and pursued him, Collins had driven 
through Biggs and headed east for Ruts, then south through wheat fields.

Police eventually found the sport-utility vehicle wrecked and abandoned 
where it had been driven over a cliff southeast of Rufus. Collins was 
gone, and so was the loaded shotgun from the front seat.

Tatom said he and state police Detective Fred Hawkins walked for a couple 
of miles down the rough terrain of Scott Canyon before they finally 
cornered Collins and took him back into custody. By then, Tatom said, 
Collins had ditched the shotgun.

While they were searching the canyon, deputies were stationed at its 
mouth, next to Interstate 84.

Hawkins Tatom and three deputies arrested Collins without incident. He 
no longer was wearing handcuffs, Tatom said.

Police found the still-loaded weapon Wednesday, stashed in the brush
about 200 yards from where Collins was arrested, Tatom said.

Sherman County District Attorney Bill Hanlon said Collins has a "very 
long felony criminal history" and a record that includes many misdemeanors.

Collins' sentence Tuesday also included probation, but it already has 
been revoked, the district attorney said.

The more than two-hour search for Collins involved about seven state 
police officers and perhaps 10 sheriff's deputies from Sherman, Gilliam 
and Klickitat counties. The state police called for an airplane to aid 
the search, but Collins was back in custody before it arrived on the scene.


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