'Let today's outcome be a message': Repeat car thief gets 5 years in prison
A 25-year-old Oregon man was sentenced to five years in prison by a Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge on Nov. 29, District Attorney Mike Schmidt announced.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A 25-year-old Oregon man was sentenced to five years in prison after repeatedly stealing cars, Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt announced.
Prior to his sentencing on Tuesday, convicted felon Andrew Belsher pled guilty to numerous charges, including felon in possession of a firearm, possession of a stolen vehicle, three counts of unlawful use of a vehicle, two counts of reckless endangerment and failure to perform the duties of a driver with an injured person.
These charges, Schmidt said, were related to multiple crimes committed between 2020 and 2022.
During a prior arrest in 2020, the Portland Police Bureau allegedly found a gun and hundreds of rounds of ammo in the trunk of a vehicle driven by Belsher. In 2021, Belsher fled after crashing a vehicle, leaving an injured passenger behind at the scene.
That same year, the Portland Police Bureau stopped the 25-year-old for driving a stolen vehicle. During the arrest, Belsher allegedly told his passenger not to speak to the officers, saying, “Don't say anything and it'll just get no-complainted.”
He was charged with two more car theft charges in 2022.
Multnomah County Deputy District Attorney Victor Mercado Negro said that Belsher’s crimes personally affected multiple victims.
“Belsher is emblematic of the type of offender that our community will absolutely not tolerate,” Schmidt said. “His crimes affected his victim’s ability to get work, take their children to school, and feel safe. He thought he would get away with it. Let today’s outcome be a message to those who might make the same mistake.”
The DA’s office says it prosecutes 77% of motor vehicle thefts in Multnomah County.