A woman was robbed at gunpoint and her car stolen shortly before 8 a.m. Friday, May 17.
The incident occurred in the 1600 block of Chemawa Road Northeast.
The victim, a 41-year old female told police she parked and exited her vehicle when she was approached by two men who stole an undisclosed amount of cash and her 2000 Toyota Solara.
She described both suspects as Caucasian males in their 30s. One of the suspects was reported to have been armed with a handgun at the time the robbery occurred.
Later that evening, at about 9:38 p.m. the Keizer police officer who had taken the original robbery report, Officer Andrew McCowan, observed the stolen vehicle driving east on Chemawa Road Northeast near Portland Road Northeast in Salem.
After waiting for a covering officer to catch up to him, McCowan followed the vehicle and initiated a traffic stop on Copper Creek Loop Northeast near Crystal Avenue Northeast.
The driver pulled over and it initially appeared he and the other individual inside the stolen automobile were going to comply, but that only lasted a few seconds after which the driver accelerated and fled from the stopped police vehicles at a high rate of speed.
The stolen vehicle traveled east on Cooper Creek Loop until the same road turns a corner and begins to travel to the south. After the suspect vehicle turned the corner the pursuing officer lost sight of it for a few seconds until the officer rounded the same corner in the roadway only to find the suspect vehicle had stopped and both of its occupants had fled on foot.
A perimeter was set and the surrounding neighborhood was searched for well over an hour by a Salem police officer and his K-9 partner, but neither individual who fled was located. The stolen vehicle was seized for further processing for evidence. The investigation into the incident is still ongoing.
