The Associated Press
McMINNVILLE, Ore. (AP) - A sheriff’s work is never done.
Yamhill County Sheriff Jack Crabtree was out of uniform Sunday when he decided to do some Christmas shopping at a Tigard mall.
He found a parking spot in the crowded lot and walked toward the Nordstrom entrance. Just then, a car with three men inside pulled up to the store’s front door. The man in the front passenger seat got out and headed inside.
“I had a sense that something wasn’t right,” Crabtree said. “I had this feeling that something bad was going to happen. Things just didn’t look right.”
Crabtree noted the car’s license plate number and the car’s two remaining occupants. He observed the man inside the store and waited to see what developed.
Sure enough, the man grabbed an armful of clothes from a table and headed for the door.
“He ran right at me,” the sheriff said. “I told him to stop. He wasn’t interested in stopping, but I wasn’t interested in letting him get away.”
Crabtree grabbed the man and a fight ensued. Clothes went flying and the man grabbed an umbrella to use as a weapon. Crabtree said he kicked it out of his hand and got him pinned down with his arms behind his back.
Shoppers alerted store security personnel, who took the man into custody and called Tigard police. The man’s companions drove away and have yet to be captured.
Paul Robert Turner, 46, of Portland, was booked into the Washington County Jail in Hillsboro on a theft charge. He had just finished serving time in the Yamhill County Jail - Crabtree’s jail - on a probation violation.