"1st" case of evactuation looting in Oregon.

https://mobile.twitter.com/ClackCoSheriff/status/1304995418619572224

https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2020/09/molalla-police-arrest-local-man-accused-of-theft-attempted-burglary-in-evacuated-area.html

A Molalla man was arrested Saturday for attempting to burglarize at least one business inside his evacuated hometown, police said.

Duane Schlip, 56, tried to burglarize a local towing company, and then stole a utility terrain vehicle from a locked facility at Molalla Middle School Thursday, police said.

Officers arrested Schlip while he was “casing neighborhoods,” according to police.

Schlip was charged with attempted burglary, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and first-degree theft.

This is the first known case of someone arrested for trying to commit theft or burglary during the evacuations in Molalla. Police have said they are on the lookout for thieves, but decried social media rumors that the issue was widespread.

“It’s been blown way out of proportion,” Frank Schoenfeld, Molalla chief of police, told The Oregonian/OregonLive Friday. “There have been no confirmed cases of looting in town.”

– K. Rambo

krambo@oregonian.com

@k_rambo_