Auto theft call becomes drunken driving arrest

SPRINGFIELD — Intoxicated folks surely have tried all sorts of things to get out of being arrested for drunken driving, and even though what police say a Creswell man did Friday night is not all that unusual, it might seem so to a “normal person,” Sgt. Rick Lewis said Saturday.

Police said Brandon Michael Gatewood, 27, drove away from Tommy’s Bar and Grill at 1509 Mohawk Blvd. shortly before midnight Friday and crashed his pickup truck just two blocks away.

Before police learned about that, however, they say they got a call from Gatewood about 11:53 p.m. Friday saying his truck had been stolen.

“Basically, this guy … called up dispatch and said someone stole his truck from Tommy’s Bar and Grill,” Lewis said. Gatewood told police he had left his keys in the ignition while he was inside the bar, Lewis said.

But less than five minutes after Gatewood’s call to police, officers were dispatched to a report of a crash at 18th and Olympic streets. The white Dodge pickup left the road and struck a tree, causing significant damage to the truck’s front end.

When police arrived, they could see that both air bags had deployed, but no driver could be found. A K-9 dog searched the area without success, police said.

An investigation determined that Gatewood was the driver, police said.

“He finally admitted he’d been driving it,” Lewis said.

Gatewood was arrested on four misdemeanor charges — drunken driving, hit and run (because of property damage), reckless driving and initiating a false police report — and placed in the Springfield Municipal Jail.

Lewis was not surprised in the least at Gatewood’s alleged behavior Friday night. “Not terribly,” he said. “Drunk drivers will commit hit and runs and think that, us being ding-dongs, we won’t figure it out.”

According to Gatewood’s Facebook page, he attended Thurston High School and owns BMG Flooring on Lincoln Street in Eugene.


Mark Baker has been a journalist for the past 25 years. He’s currently the sports editor at The Jackson Hole News & Guide in Jackson, Wyo.