Vehicle rams patrol car while attempting to flee

On Tuesday, April 19, 2022, at 6:03 a.m., Washington County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a church within the Enhanced Sheriff’s Patrol District (ESPD), located at 12405 SW Butner Road.

An observant neighbor called 911 after they heard power tools being used and believed someone was trying to steal a trailer parked on the property. When deputies arrived, a 2013 BMW sedan rammed one of the patrol cars as it was attempting to flee. The BMW was disabled after the crash, and the male driver and a male passenger got out of the vehicle and ran on foot in opposite directions. Deputies were able to catch both males after a short foot pursuit. 

Deputies learned the BMW and another vehicle associated with the two men, a 2006 Ford F150, were both stolen. The Ford had been stolen less than an hour earlier. Deputies also learned the two men were attempting to cut the catalytic converter off the Ford with power tools just before deputies arrived, and that is most likely what the neighbor heard before calling 911.

The BMW driver, 22-year-old Dylan Hardy, and the passenger, 27-year-old Alexander Barber, were transported to a local hospital for precautionary reasons and then lodged in the Washington County Jail after being cleared by medical professionals. 

Hardy was lodged in the Washington County Jail for:

• Attempted assaulting a public safety officer
• Assault in the fourth degree
• Possession of a stolen vehicle 
• Unauthorized use of a motor vehicle 
• Possession of burglary tools 
• Criminal mischief in the first degree (3 counts)
• Elude (felony)
• Elude (misdemeanor)
• Reckless driving
• Reckless endangering another person (2 counts)
• Theft in the first degree
• Attempted theft in the first degree 

Barber was lodged in the Washington County Jail for:

• Possession of a stolen vehicle 
• Unauthorized use of a motor vehicle 
• Possession of burglary tools 
• Criminal Mischief in the first degree 
• Possession of Oxycodone (felony) 
• Elude (misdemeanor)

The deputy driving the patrol car struck by the BMW was transported to a local hospital for precautionary reasons and was later released.

The Enhanced Sheriff’s Patrol District (ESPD) provides law enforcement services for more than 214,000 residents in the urban areas outside of cities in Washington County, including Bethany, Cedar Mill, Cedar Hills, Aloha, Reedville, Garden Home, Metzger, Rock Creek, Raleigh Hills, Bull Mountain, Bonny Slope, West Slope, Oak Hills, and more. Voters first approved the ESPD in 1987, and all local option levies since then.