PORTLAND — A 5-year-old boy from The Dalles was found unharmed Wednesday a few hours after he was kidnapped by a man who assaulted his parents with a hammer, police said.
Officers found Brian Depriest, 36, and the child, Skylar Meldin Coulcer-Jarding, in the small town of Dufur, 15 miles south of The Dalles, said Capt. Ed Goodman of the Dalles Police Department.
The child’s parents, Josh Jarding and Kathryn Riter, both 30, were taken to Mid-Columbia Medical Center in The Dalles with serious injuries. Both have been released.
Depriest is Riter’s ex-boyfriend and a restraining order was in effect at the time of the attack, Goodman said. He did not know when the pair dated.
The assault and kidnapping occurred shortly before 6 a.m. Wednesday on the west side of The Dalles, triggering a statewide Amber Alert that included photos of Depriest, the boy and the stolen Chevrolet Cavalier they were traveling in.
“It was the car of a neighbor who was running it in the driveway to clear the windows of frost," Goodman said.
Detectives immediately started calling Depriest’s relatives, many of whom live in Dufur, and one of them directed police to a family member’s home, where Depriest was arrested without incident.
He was booked into the Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facility on charges of assault, kidnapping, menacing, unauthorized use of a vehicle, custodial interference and contempt of court. Bail was set at $890,000.
Depriest worked at Precision Lumber Co. in The Dalles for the past three years and was a “great employee," manager Matt McCall said.
“This has been quite a shock," he added.
