HPD nabs porch pirate
By Terry Murry on Monday, February 7th, 2022 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
HERMISTON – Hermiston police were called to the scene of attempted porch piracy on the east side of town Friday. They learned a neighbor had tried to stop a man from stealing recently delivered packages.
“The witness tried to intervene,” Police Chief Jason Edmiston said. “The suspect ended up assaulting the witness, took off, fled in a gray Ford Focus type vehicle that we pushed out in a Facebook post.”
Edmiston said on Friday night officers saw the suspect at Walmart, but he fled on foot avoiding arrest. That’s when the Facebook post helped.
“Early Saturday morning a citizen called in due to our Facebook post and said they thought they had found the vehicle,” he said. “It was parked and somebody appeared to be sleeping inside of it, so our officers made contact.”
They took Jacob Richard Mack, 27, into custody, charging him with third-degree felony robbery, fourth-degree aggravated assault, and second-degree theft. More charges against Mack could be coming from the Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office.
“We have been working with Umatilla County specific to their case,” Edmiston said. “I believe they have some further investigation to include possibly a search warrant on a different vehicle.”
Edmiston said that Mack has a history of six arrests and 20 citations. “However, it does look like the majority of his activity is really from about December of 2021 on,” he said.
“His name has been popping up multiple times during each shift so he clearly has decided his path. Now, hopefully he remains in custody long enough for everybody to put their investigations together and get him charged accordingly.”
