A dramatic chase unfolded in Clackamas when deputies from the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office chased down a stolen white Nissan Sentra, carrying not just outlaws but also a family’s missing service dog, named Takoda. In a hectic confrontation on April 3, reported by clackamas.us, a Sergeant attempted to pull over the stolen vehicle as it entered Crown Court Apartments before it crashed and its occupants fled on foot, leaving behind the absence of Takoda the service dog.
The pursuit initially began at approximately 11:30 a.m. after the vehicle, stolen on April 1st from Oregon City, was spotted by the Sergeant, the suspects, a male and a female scrambled into an apartment after their crash, initiating an hours-long stand-off with local authorities that included the Clackamas County Interagency Crisis Negotiations Team. While the search for Takoda continued separately, Derek Johnson, 26, and Celeste Bush, 42, both from Portland were arrested alongside Nina White, 54, who faced charges for attempting to shield the fleeing suspects.
According to the information provided by the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office, the man, Derek Leander Johnson, is detained facing multiple accusations including charges of attempting to elude an officer and failing to perform duties of a driver, along with an outstanding warrant from the Oregon Department of Corrections for larceny and identity theft; his accomplice, Celeste Elizabeth Bush, is being held on a parole violation related to prior identity theft charges from Multnomah County.
Later that evening, the distraught owners of Takoda received a phone tip that their precious service dog was spotted at an apartment complex in Happy Valley, leading Sheriff's deputies to heroically trace the tip to a happy reunion with Takoda and his family. The case remains under active investigation as the Sheriff's Office continues to piece together the events that transpired on that day.
