A mail thief suspect led Washington County Sheriff's Deputies on a chase before crashing into a tree Wednesday morning.
It started when shortly before 1 a.m., when deputies responded to a theft in progress at the Clermont Apartments on Northwest 143rd Avenue in the Oak Hills community.
A resident of the complex reported that someone had broken into a community mailbox and was leaving in a vehicle. They provided the license plate and described it as a dark blue 2007 Subaru Outback.
A short time later, deputies found the Subaru travelling eastbound on Highway 26 near the Sylvan exit. When deputies attempted to stop the car, the driver led deputies on a pursuit northbound on Southwest Skyline Boulevard, then eastbound on West Burnside Road.
The pursuit ended east of the tunnel on West Burnside Road when the driver lost control, left the roadway, and crashed on its side into a tree. The driver was extricated from the vehicle and transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Deputies located numerous burglary tools and a stolen license plate inside the vehicle. The license plates displayed did not match that of the Subaru and deputies are working to determine if they are stolen, as well. The Subaru was seized to later be searched for additional evidence.
Back at the apartment complex, deputies found signs of forced entry to the community mailbox.
The suspect, a 42-year-old man from Southeast Portland, will be identified when he released from the hospital and booked into the Washington County Jail.