A driver in a stolen BMW apparently decided that exceeding 100 mph wasn’t enough to make his Wednesday morning interesting, eventually abandoning the car and trying his luck on foot. According to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in Oregon, that decision ultimately left him about 20 feet up a tree with a police K9 waiting below.
The incident began around 2:40 a.m. on August 26 when a deputy attempted to stop a black sedan traveling more than 100 mph on Highway 26 near NW Jackson School Road. The driver continued eastbound instead, and another deputy spotted what appeared to be the same vehicle minutes later before the driver once again refused to stop.
Deputies eventually watched the black 2015 BMW 335, which the Sheriff’s Office said was stolen, enter an apartment complex off SW 188th Court. Three people bailed out and ran, prompting deputies to contain the area while Corporal Terry and K9 Griff began tracking them.
Griff first led deputies to two passengers on a nearby porch before following the third person’s trail into a marshy wooded area. That search ended with the 21-year-old driver hiding approximately 20 feet up a tree, where a drone helped deputies pinpoint his location before he finally climbed down about 45 minutes later.
I Wonder What He Thought Was Going To Happen
The black-and-white video couldn’t be embedded, but you can still check it out at this link. is taken from the point of view of an overhead drone that is witnessing everything that’s going on. The suspect can be seen eluding deputies using a stolen vehicle before ultimately deciding that making a run for it was a better choice.
Right after this, the deputies let K9 Griff loose, and he is able to capture two out of the three suspects. The third is hiding in a tree and is pretty much just waiting for Griff and the other officers to find him.
After a spotlight shines down on the suspect, making him visible, it becomes as easy as just apprehending and arresting him, putting an end to the entire charade. Fortunately, it looks like he cooperated without any issue.
Comments and Reactions to K9 Griff Tracking Down the Driver
There wasn’t much sympathy for the people who ran, but there was certainly plenty of love for the four-legged member of the Sheriff’s Office involved in finding them. One commenter suggested sending the “land shark” whenever someone runs from police, while another kept things considerably simpler with, “Good Boy, Griff!”
Others joined the Griff appreciation party, with people writing “Good going Griff!” and “Great job Griff!” after watching how the search unfolded. One commenter even upgraded his rank for the occasion, thanking “Officer Griff” for his contribution to the arrest.
The praise extended beyond Griff himself to police K9s in general, with one person saying they “just love the K-9 dogs” and calling them a great addition to any department. Considering Griff tracked two people to a porch and then helped turn a 20-foot tree into a particularly ineffective hiding spot, this wasn’t exactly a bad advertisement for the K9 unit.