Grants Pass man arrested after intentionally crashing into car, fleeing into neighboring house

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (KPTV) - A man was arrested Wednesday evening after chasing and crashing into a car with three women inside, then hiding in a nearby house, according to the Grants Pass Police Department.

Officers responded to a call about a crash at about 6:12 p.m. on Southwest Greenwood Avenue near Westholm Park. Police said a man named Geraldo Lepe Oliva was driving his silver VW Beatle and intentionally crashed into a white Toyota Corolla with three women inside after chasing them through the city.

Police dispatch received more calls reporting Oliva getting out of his car after the crash, grabbing a car jack, and trying to break out the windows of the Toyota with the women. After area residents confronted Oliva, he began walking away.

Just as police arrived and shouted for him to stop, Oliva casually walked to the front door of a nearby house and knocked. He then opened the door, went inside and closed the door behind him. A woman then got out of the house with her four-year-old son and baby and told officers she did not know who the man was who had just entered her home.

Police tried to contact Oliva with loudspeaker announcements but received no response. Officers and a police dog then entered and searched the house, finding Oliva hiding in the child’s bedroom closet, trying to bark like a dog. When Oliva refused to surrender, the police dog, Maro, apprehended him.

Oliva did not know the women in the car or the residents of the house. His statement said he mistakenly believed his wife was in the white Corolla.

Oliva was booked into the Josephine County Jail on charges of second-degree assault, burglary, menacing, reckless driving, reckless endangering, attempted unlawful entry into a vehicle, hit and run, and first-degree criminal mischief.