STAYTON, Ore. -- A bungled metal theft near Aumsville led police to several stolen vehicles, as well as other stolen equipment, guns and methamphetamine, police said.
Jeremy Daniel Harris, 34, was found by a K-9 officer near a metal salvage business after a theft was reported there. Harris was suspected of putting stolen goods from the business into a company truck and trailer, and then attempting to steal the loaded vehicles. The theft was foiled when the truck got stuck in a ditch.
Background: Metal theft suspect caught after truck is stuck
Police believed two more suspects were on the loose. The investigation led police Wednesday to the 5-acre property where Harris' home is located. At the scene, a SWAT team found people in the process of destroying stolen items in a burn pile (pictured, below), according to Don Thomson of the Marion County Sheriff's Office.
Detectives searched two homes on the property and recovered a stolen truck, car, ATV, and several other vehicles. Police also seized firearms and methamphetamine.
Three people were jailed in connection with the stolen property. A 6-year-old girl on the property was taken into Dept. of Human Services due to what Thomson called "the filthy living conditions" of one of the houses on the property.
