Deputies apprehend suspect in Damascus marijuana burglary

By Mara Stine

The Gresham Outlook, Oct 9, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (2 Reader comments)

Police arrested a man accused of stealing marijuana from a Damascus barn and shooting at the resident when he tried to stop the burglar.

Steven Ronald Pickard, 31, of Southeast Portland, is being held on $280,000 bail at the Clackamas County Jail in Oregon City on allegations of first-degree robbery, second-degree burglary and being an ex-convict in possession of a firearm, said Detective Jim Strovink, sheriff’s office spokesman.

He allegedly crawled through a window of a barn in the 17500 block of Southeast Highway 224 in Damascus, at about 3 a.m. Friday, Oct. 9, Lt. Paul Steigleder II said.

The 48-year-old man who lives there is registered with the state as a medical marijuana grower.

When the resident heard noise early in the morning coming from the barn, he went to investigate and ended up interrupting the burglary in progress.

As the suspects tried to flee in a Cadillac Escalade, the resident jumped in his Jeep Cherokee to stop them. Then shots rang out from the Cadillac as they made their escape.

A short time later, an off-duty Clackamas County sheriff’s deputy driving home in his patrol car spotted the Cadillac and started chasing it. The six-minute pursuit went from northbound Interstate 205 at 82nd Avenue to the Overlook Park neighborhood and ended in the Lents area, where the suspects jumped out of the vehicle in the 6300 block of Southeast Alberta Street. Within minutes, a police dog tracked down Pickard, who was hiding nearby.

Police recovered a .40-caliber handgun and three mature marijuana plants from the vehicle. The number of allegedly stolen plants was small because the resident had just harvested his crop, Steigleder said. Officers are still looking for the second suspect.

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