<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=192888919167017&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
Thursday, March 28, 2024
March 28, 2024

Linkedin Pinterest

Police, aided by OnStar, find stolen car, capture man

Saturn abandoned in Minnehaha area, police say

By John Branton
Published: May 28, 2010, 12:00am

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.

Tip: you can interact with this map using your fingerscursor (or two fingers on touch screens)cursor. Map

Early Thursday afternoon, Vanzant, who allegedly abandoned the Saturn in the area of Northeast St. Johns Boulevard and 41st Street, was spotted. He fled on foot and was captured in an alley, Chamblee said.

Vanzant was treated for a minor dog bite and taken to jail, Chamblee said.

Loading...