Quick thinking, quick ATV and justice served

David Jessen didn’t think twice when he unloaded his four-wheeler from his trailer at a Roseburg gas station Wednesday to chase two men he thought had stolen someone’s purse.

Had the Roseburg man known the pair had actually allegedly just robbed the Roseburg Tobacco & Foodmart at the Exxon station on Northeast Stephens Street, Jessen might have taken pause.

“I just figured it was a purse snatch,” the 25-year-old said Thursday. “I might have thought twice.”

But since he didn’t, and he had his ATV handy, Jessen was able to catch up to one of the suspects, who’d just run away on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash.

As Roseburg police Officer Rich Thompson detained Troy Lynn Harrison, 21, Jessen cornered 40-year-old Brian Keith Roberts of Roseburg and pinned him to the ground.

The men were arrested on suspicion of second-degree robbery and first-degree theft. The cash and merchandise they allegedly stole was returned to the store, owned by Manjit Sandhu.

One of the suspect’s pretended to have a gun in his pocket when he demanded cash from the store clerk, said Sgt. Aaron Dunbar. Police found a knife on Roberts, the man Jessen detained.

Besides the ATV, Jessen had another advantage over the suspects. He graduated from the police reserve academy at Umpqua Community College a couple years ago.

“I knew what kind of hold to put on him and stuff,” said Jessen, who’s now pursuing a contractor’s license. “It worked out pretty good.”

Dunbar does not recommend taking such measures to help police. The men were potentially armed robbers who could have been dangerous.

“More important, we’d ask people to be good witnesses,” he said.

Still, Dunbar said Jessen acted bravely and helped out a lot.

“They were pretty happy. They shook my hand and stuff,” Jessen said of the officers at the scene. “They didn’t tell me it was a dumb move, which it probably was.”



• You can reach reporter Chelsea Duncan at 957-4246 or by e-mail at cduncan@newsreview.info.