A man who was in the jail on Thursday night for allegedly possessing a stolen car can thank the OnStar vehicle-locating system — and a police dog that sniffed him out in the Minnehaha area Thursday afternoon.
John Vanzant, 31, an Oregon resident, was being held on $15,000 bail on suspicion of possessing a stolen car and attempting to elude police, a jail employee said.
The several-hour manhunt started late Thursday morning, when Onstar notified 911 dispatchers that a brown Saturn, which had been stolen in Portland, had been detected stopped near the Westfield Vancouver mall, said Officer Dave Chamblee with the Vancouver Police Department.
Officers went there and found the car parked and unoccupied, and watched until a man got inside and drove away. Officers followed the Saturn and turned on their flashers, but the driver accelerated away, Chamblee said.