PORTLAND, Oregon — A prolific car theft suspect was indicted Wednesday by a grand jury on 16 charges after his arrest last weekend.
Jesse Dane Brower appeared in court Monday and pleaded not guilty to unauthorized use of a vehicle, possession of a stolen vehicle, felony elude and a number of other charges.
On Wednesday, the grand jury returned a true bill of indictment with the following charges, as reported Thursday by the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office.
- One count of Trafficking in Stolen Vehicles
- Three counts of Unauthorized Use of a Vehicle
- One count of Possession of a Stolen Vehicle
- One count of Aggravated Identity Theft
- One count of Forgery in the First Degree
- One count of Theft in the Second Degree
- Two counts of Possession of Burglary Tools
- One count of Criminal Mischief in the Third Degree
- One count of Felony Attempt to Elude Police
- One count of Misdemeanor Attempt to Elude Police
- One count of Reckless Driving
- Two counts of Recklessly Endangering Another Person
Brower is in custody at the Multnomah County Inverness Jail and is scheduled for arraignment on Aug. 8.
On Saturday, July 29, authorities executed a search warrant at Brower's Portland-area home and found evidence related to dozens of stolen vehicles. They also found stolen car parts.
Brower was the focus of an investigation by the county's new Auto Theft Task Force. Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt established this task force a few months ago. This was the team's first bust.
Brower's public defender argued for a low bail. The state argued for security to be set at $30,000, which the judge ultimately signed off on.
"He's just a prolific car thief it appears," Judge Michael Greenlick said. "After being on probation for multiple cases, he is still allegedly involved in this kind of activity."
Judge Greenlick was not amused by Brower's alleged tendency to steal cars. Brower has been busted for this sort of thing several times in the last several years.
A past victim told KGW she could not believe he was busted again. She said when her car was stolen it was a major inconvenience. She said it was costly, too. She is hoping Brower gets the help he needs.
Download the KGW News app: Download for iPhone here | Download for Android here
Stream newscasts for free on KGW+ on Roku and Amazon Fire: How to add app to your device here
See a typo in this article? Email web@kgw.com for corrections