Local News

Grants Pass Police jailed two men for stealing a vehicle and flatbed trailer valued at nearly $80,000 from the Spalding Industrial Park over the weekend.

The Police Department reports officers arrested 45-year-old Richard Dale Chalker, Jr, and 58-year-old Stephen Paul Kiyak in the 900-block of SE N Street at about 7:32 a.m. Saturday, shortly after the crime was reported.

Police said a male caller to 9-1-1 reported that a Land Rover Explorer and a flatbed trailer were stolen from the 2200-block of NE Spalding Avenue. They said the Land Rover with British plates was on the trailer. The vehicles had been barricaded on the property, but the suspects removed the rocks in front of them in order to commit the heist.

Responding officers pulled over a Ford F-250 that was towing the stolen trailer and Land Rover on SE N Street. Chalker was placed into custody without incident, but Kiyak fled into the backyard of a nearby home where he was eventually arrested with assistance from the Oregon State Police.

The stolen vehicle and trailer were recovered, and the suspect vehicle was towed. Damage to the trailer axle was reported, which will cost around $2,000 to repair.

Richard Chalker and Stephen Kiyak were both lodged at the Josephine County Jail on a total of seven charges including two counts each of Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle and Possession of a Stolen Vehicle, plus single counts of Felony Aggravated Theft, 2nd-Degree Criminal Mischief and Criminal Conspiracy.