June 1, 2003
Second chase brings mans arrest
By ANITA BURKE
Mail Tribune
A Rogue River man who eluded police in a chase Friday night resumed his run Saturday, striking and seriously injuring a woman before he was arrested Saturday afternoon.
John Hall, 21, led police on a high-speed chase on Interstate 5 and Highway 99, flattened the tires of his truck crossing a spike strip police set out to stop him and careened into a woman
sitting on her lawn in the trailer park where he reportedlylived, Oregon State Police said. At the end of the chase, Hall, whom police described as "suicidal and unpredictable," slashed
his right arm with a hunting knife.
Hall was taken by ambulance to Three Rivers Community Hospital in Grants Pass, where he was treated and released. He was lodged in Jackson County Jail on charges of attempted second-degree
manslaughter, second-degree assault, and multiple counts of felony attempting to elude police and reckless driving.
The woman he struck, Dawn Aronson, 53, was in serious condition at Rogue Valley Medical Center Saturday night, hospital officials said.
The chase began at about 7:15 p.m. Friday when a state trooper tried to stop Halls pickup for reckless driving on Sixth Street in Grants Pass. Hall refused to stop and headed toward Rogue
River, OSP Lt. Dan Durbin said.
Officers put out a "spike strip," or tire-popping device, to stop Hall near the town of Rogue River, but he maneuvered around the strip and drove straight at officers. Hall struck a
troopers hand as he drove by, and an officer shot at the truck, Durbin said.
Hall then drove through Rogue River and into the hills, Durbin said. Rogue River police officer Roger Bigham stopped on West Evans Creek Road near Menthorne Road to try to halt Hall, but Hall
struck Bighams police car and bumped it into the officer, who was knocked into a ditch and bruised.
Officers chasing Halls 1988 red Toyota pickup lost sight of the truck near Queens Branch Road, Durbin said.
Police located Hall at a home in the West Evans Creek area Saturday morning, and the Jackson County sheriffs department got a report that he might be suicidal, records said.
Sheriffs deputies planned to monitor Halls location and help take him into custody in a "low-key operation," OSP Detective Bruce Phillips said.
However, he next was spotted driving around 2 p.m. by a trooper, who tried to stop him, OSP Sgt. Brian Powers said. Hall refused to stop and troopers chased him on Interstate 5 southbound between
the Grants Pass and Rogue River areas at speeds topping 100 mph. The chase continued on Highway 99 north toward Rogue River at high speeds until several near-accidents caused by speed and unsafe
passing forced police to pull back, Powers said.
Officers still investigating at the place where Hall dodged a spike strip and a shot the night before put out another spike strip, Phillips said. Hall drove over the strip and flattened his truck
tires, but didnt stop.
Turning into Hummingbird RV Ranch, where he reportedly lives, he lost control and skidded into Aronson, Powers said. She struck the pickups windshield and suffered cuts and rib injuries.
After a brief struggle with officers, a bloodied Hall, who had apparently cut himself while driving, was taken into custody.
Sheriff deputies from Jackson and Josephine counties and Rogue River police assisted in the case.Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4459, or e-mail
aburke@mailtribune.com.
Reporter Sanne Specht contributed to this report.