REDMOND, Ore. - The Redmond Police Department's newly acquired drones played a key role in the arrest of two theft suspects early Tuesday morning after a caller reported a burglary in progress.

Around 5:30 a.m., a community member called Deschutes County 9-1-1 to report a theft underway at Coastal Farm and Ranch Supply, 3141 S Highway 97. The caller told dispatchers a man and a woman were leaving the area, heading east with wheelbarrows full of items, Redmond Police Lt. April Huey said.

RPD officers immediately responded to the area and set up a perimeter. Officers also deployed drones to find and track the suspects, who fled east on foot and on stolen motorcycles into the undeveloped area east of the 2000 block of NW 6th Street.

An officer caught the male suspect after a short chase on foot. Meanwhile, the drones spotted the female suspect hiding in the brush after she abandoned a stolen motorcycle, helping officers take her into custody.

The male suspect, a 41-year-old Redmond resident, was arrested for on three counts of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, second-degree criminal trespass, first-degree theft, second-degree burglary, possession of burglary tools, resisting arrest and an active warrant for his arrest.

The female suspect, a 32-year-old Redmond resident, was arrested on three counts of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, second-degree criminal trespass, first-degree theft and second-degree burglary. 

Both suspects were lodged in the Deschutes County Adult Jail.

Over $3,000 worth of stolen items were recovered during the arrest, Huey said

"RPD’s goal is to make Redmond the safest city possible by enhancing patrol operations utilizing tools of technology to assist in the day-to-day operations and covering difficult areas of Redmond, like the undeveloped land where these suspects were located," Huey said.

"Drones are among the valuable tools which provide quicker and safer response to calls in these difficult, undeveloped areas of Redmond."