Man arrested in Oregon in theft of Vancouver Fire Department vehicle

Deputies in Oregon arrested a man who investigators say stole a Vancouver Fire Department vehicle Monday night from the scene of a medical call near downtown Vancouver.

Vancouver police responded about 10:30 p.m. to the area of West Mill Plain Boulevard and Kauffman Avenue for reports that a Vancouver Fire Dodge 5500 truck had been stolen while paramedics were tending to a patient.

Police and Clark County sheriff’s deputies searched for the truck, but they did not find it, according to a police news release.

Washington State Patrol troopers told investigators they spotted the truck on freeway cameras crossing into Oregon five minutes after the reported theft, police said.

At about 5 a.m. Tuesday, Linn County, Ore., sheriff’s deputies found the truck unoccupied in Albany, Ore., about 80 miles south of Vancouver.

Deputies contacted a man in a nearby empty house.

After they interviewed him, deputies arrested the man for unlawful use of a motor vehicle, along with an outstanding warrant out of Washington County, Ore. Authorities did not release the man’s name.

Vancouver police’s Property Crimes Unit is continuing to investigate, and investigators ask anyone with information to contact the department.