On Wednesday, just after Midnight, Washington County Sheriff’s Office deputies were dispatched to a suspicious circumstances call in the parking lot of the QFC grocery store located at 7525 SW Barnes Road.
A caller to 9-1-1 reported seeing two men climbing on top of a black Toyota Corolla with a crowbar and wooden plank trying to open the door.
Deputies contacted the two men identified as 29-year-old Omar Velazquez of Vancouver and 25-year-old Kenneth Hayden of Aloha. The men claimed the car they were trying to break into belonged to another friend’s girlfriend and they had locked the keys inside.
Further investigation revealed that the Toyota was stolen the day before from a Cold Stone Creamery on NW 185th Avenue in Hillsboro.
Two men, one who was later identified as Hayden, entered the ice cream shop and ordered ice cream cones, but didn’t have the money to pay. The employee at the store later noticed her keys were missing and her car had been stolen.
At some point, deputies also determined the license plate on the car was stolen from a similar vehicle parked at a nearby apartment complex. That plate was later returned to its owner as was the stolen car. Various stolen items were also located inside the car.
Hayden was booked into jail on charges of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, theft in the second degree, criminal mischief and PCS methamphetamine.
Velazquez was booked into jail on charges of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, criminal mischief in the first degree and theft in the second degree.
Photo: Kenneth Hayden & Omar Velazquez