Fugitive subdued after car chase

General

February 14, 2012

A convicted sex offender on the lam led police Monday on a high-speed chase that ended after an officer fired two shots at close range into the spinning rear tire of the man's wrecked SUV stuck in wet grass near the Medford airport, authorities said.

Jeremy Ray Rasmussen, 27, had been out of the Jackson County Jail's work-release center less than a week and was wanted again for failing to follow the conditions of his parole when his latest attempt to elude police ended shortly after 10 a.m. at the crash scene off Avion Drive, police said.

Rasmussen, who also scuffled with officers and was shot twice with a Taser before he was subdued, was treated for minor injuries at Providence Medford Medical Center, police said. He was then jailed on a no-bail charge of violating the conditions of his parole on previous convictions of first-degree sexual abuse and eluding police, according to the Medford Police Department.

Other charges against Rasmussen are pending, Medford police Chief Tim George said. Those include a felony charge of attempting to elude a police officer, reckless driving, driving under the influence of intoxicants, resisting arrest, criminal mischief and driving while suspended, George said.

George said he "guarantees" Rasmussen knew he was wanted and heading back to jail when he led police on the chase that ended when an unidentified Jackson County sheriff's deputy fired two shots at less than two feet away as the SUV's right rear tire spun in wet grass in his attempt to flee the scene.

Rasmussen had wrecked the 1998 Jeep Cherokee into some trees and landscaping while trying to avoid two spike strips at the intersection of Avion Drive and Airport Road, George said. His SUV also had crashed into a police car and he was trying to back the SUV away from the scene when the shots were fired, George said.

The incident was not considered a case of use or attempted use of deadly physical force because the gun was not aimed at a person, George said. Rather, the incident was considered a "maneuver to disable a vehicle" and will not be independently reviewed, George said.

Sheriff Mike Winters has asked the county's multi-agency Major Assault and Death Investigation Unit to handle the case, which involves sheriff's deputies, Medford police and the Oregon State Police.

Winters also could choose to launch an internal investigation into whether any county policies or procedures were violated, George said.

Winters did not immediately return a telephone call Monday evening seeking comment and a copy of the agency's policy of the use of firearms during vehicle pursuits.

Had the officer who shot the tire worked for Medford police, he would face an internal review of his actions and circumstances of the shooting, George said.

The Medford police policy manual states that the use of firearms to disable a pursued vehicle is "not generally an effective tactic" and should not be used "unless the conditions and circumstances dictate that such use reasonably appears necessary to protect life."

The case began at 5:30 a.m. when police were called to a report of a white SUV driving over landscaping and through fences off Lampman Road in Gold Hill, police said. About $10,000 in damage was done there and the SUV fled before police arrived, but a Texas license plate was found amid the wreckage, George said.

That plate matched a plate found on the rear of the SUV that Rasmussen was driving, George said.

At 9:27 a.m., a caller reported a man slumped over the steering wheel of a white SUV parked on the access road near Interstate 5's Exit 40.

But the vehicle again was gone before police arrived. An OSP trooper, however, spotted it 25 minutes later near Beall Lane, police said.

Sheriff's deputies then joined troopers who together tried to stop the vehicle, but the vehicle sped away, and a chase involving speeds of up to 80 mph and including traveling in the path of oncoming vehicles ensued until they reached the airport area, police said.

It wasn't until after his arrest that police identified their suspect as Rasmussen, George said.

Rasmussen pleaded guilty in 2004 to three counts of attempted first-degree sexual abuse and was sentenced to two years in prison and later paroled, court records show. Rasmussen, who court records show has lived at various Medford locations in recent years, pleaded guilty to charges of attempting to elude police and recklessly endangering another in October.

He was most recently jailed for 90 days on Dec. 19 for failing to follow the conditions of his release from that original sex-abuse conviction, Medford police Sgt. Mike Budreau said. He was released from the work-release center Feb. 7 and failed to report to his parole officer as required, Budreau said.