PORTLAND, Ore. — Video obtained by KGW shows a carjacking suspect trying to lose police. He may very well have succeeded, at least for awhile, if not for a Portland police airplane tracking the stolen truck and trailer from the sky.
"He's driving super recklessly," the officer in the airplane said over the radio. "Heading down Sandy. Going into oncoming traffic."
"If he hits someone we're going to have a problem," said Tactical Flight Officer Bill Balzer.
Balzer was the Portland Police Bureau's eye in the sky Tuesday afternoon. He caught wind of the carjacking and was overhead in mere minutes.
"It's a call that, when it comes out, most police officers I know want to be part of it and get there," he said.
Officers know just how dangerous these situations can be. This case was no different.
"He's going onto the right shoulder to get around cars," Balzer said over the radio. "May have clipped a car here at 181st and San Rafael. Busting a red light right now. Blowing through the light."
Before we tell you how this all ended, we should let you know how it all started.
"He's not a professional thief by any means," said landscaper Vitaly Aspidov. "Maybe he got super desperate."
Aspidov is referring to the man accused of attacking one of his landscaping company employees who was gassing up equipment in Northeast Portland.
"A guy came up from behind and kicked him in the back, and he fell and hit his head on the concrete and the guy jumped in the driver's seat and took off with the back door of the trailer down," Aspidov said.
As soon as Aspidov heard about what happened, he pulled up the GPS on the truck and relayed the information to police. Aspidov then rushed to the hospital to be with his injured employee, who is expected to recover fully.
"Obviously you always fear the worst when you hear those kinds of things," Aspidov said. "I'm just glad it wasn't any worse and it ended well."
It ended well for the victim and police. From the plane, Balzer watched as the suspect bailed out of the truck in a residential neighborhood. Balzer radioed the information to officers who moved in and made an arrest.
"It's satisfying at the end of the night to go home and know you helped out," Balzer said.
The suspect has been identified as 30-year-old Benjamin Hendricks. He was jailed on a number of charges including robbery and reckless driving.