Medford police arrested a man at gunpoint Wednesday morning on suspicion that he had stolen a car left warming up in a driveway.

Investigators later linked him to a series of thefts from parked cars in west Medford.

A white 1990 Toyota Camry was reported stolen at about 5:30 a.m. from a driveway in the 1400 block of West Eighth Street, Medford police Lt. Mike Moran said.

At about 6 a.m. an officer spotted the car at a 7-Eleven at West Main and Lozier Lane. A man standing near the car nervously went back inside the convenience store as police approached.

The man was evasive and wouldn’t keep his hands visible to the officer, so the officer took him into custody at gunpoint in the store, Moran said.

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The man, Michael Vincent Delco, 30, of the 2400 block of Falcon Avenue, White City, had two knives in his possession when he was taken into custody, police said.

During an interview with Delco, investigators determined that he had gone around the West Medford neighborhood checking parked vehicles to see if they were locked. Police said he took a wallet, jacket and flashlight from an unlocked car next door to where the Camry was stolen.

A few blocks away on West 11th Street, he took a purse from inside an unlocked car parked on the street, Moran said. Police found the discarded purse in a garbage can at Union Park, but Delco had taken a debit card with the personal identification number written on it. Police said he had used the card to withdraw cash from an automated teller machine at the 7-Eleven shortly before an officer spotted the stolen car and moved in to arrest him.

Delco was lodged in the Jackson County Jail on charges of unauthorized use of a vehicle, identity theft and two counts each of unauthorized entry to a vehicle and second-degree theft. Bail was set at $22,000.

Police noted that a Mitsubishi sedan was stolen from an alley off West 11th Street while it was left running to warm up Tuesday morning. Delco denied involvement in that theft, investigators said.

"It’s hard to convince people to sit out in 20-degree weather in the interest of crime prevention, but it might be worth it," Moran said about leaving a running car unattended.

He also noted that city ordinance prohibits people from leaving an unattended car running while parked on city streets.

Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4485, or e-mail aburke@mailtribune.com.