A Salem man was arrested Sunday morning after police said he assaulted a homeowner with a flashlight during a burglary attempt.
Sheriff’s deputies responded to reports of a burglary in process at a home in southeast Salem just before 10 a.m., according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.
The suspect had attempted to break into the homeowner’s shed, according to the sheriff’s office, then hit the victim with a flashlight and fled the scene in the homeowner’s motorhome.
After finding the motorhome behind some brush about four miles away, sheriff’s deputies used dogs to track the driver. They found 29-year-old Bryce Mason-McCauley hiding in the brush just before 11 a.m., according to the sheriff’s office.
Spokesman Warren McDaniel had no further information on the victim’s condition on Sunday afternoon but said Mason-McCauley had been examined by medics on the scene and then taken to the Marion County Jail.
Mason-McCauley had previously been charged with burglary and criminal trespass after a series of incidents on June 20, court records show. He was released from jail on July 18 pending trial in October.
Mason-McCauley has been charged with first- and second-degree burglary, second-degree assault, third-degree criminal mischief, unlawful use of a motor vehicle and unlawful entry into a motor vehicle, as well as a parole violation. He will be arraigned Monday at 3 p.m. at the Marion County Jail Court Annex.
-- Diana Kruzman; dkruzman@oregonian.com; 503-221-5394; @DKruzman