TUMALO, Ore. — A domestic assault in Tumalo led to an intense manhunt on Saturday after the suspect, Garrett Robert Parker, fled barefoot into the snow, sparking a significant law enforcement response and alarming local residents. The 23-year-old was arrested later that night and arraigned on Monday afternoon on multiple felony charges.
Parker’s run from the law began when deputies were dispatched around 4:30 p.m. Saturday to a reported domestic assault at a home on Couch Market Road. Upon arrival, officers found Parker’s girlfriend and two young children locked inside a vehicle outside the home. The woman, who suffered serious injuries from the alleged assault, was rushed to St. Charles Bend for medical treatment, while the children were unharmed.
The sheriff’s office immediately activated its SWAT team, fearing Parker might be barricaded inside the home. After deploying drones to search the area, law enforcement found no sign of the suspect. A hand-cleared search of the home confirmed that Parker had fled the scene.
Authorities then turned to tracking Parker’s bare footprints in the snow. The suspect managed to evade capture for a time but was eventually spotted by a vigilant homeowner on Snow Creek Road, one of the areas that had been alerted through Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) notifications. The homeowner called 911, reporting a man matching the description of the suspect — a white male with long blonde dreadlocks and no shoes.
Parker was arrested shortly after, with deputies treating him for cold-related injuries to his feet before transporting him to jail. The weapon used in the assault, described as a blunt instrument, was recovered from the scene.
Parker was arraigned Monday afternoon on one count of second-degree assault, a Class B felony, for allegedly striking the victim in the face with a mug. He also faces two counts of fourth-degree assault involving domestic violence, both Class C felonies. One of the charges specifies that Parker knew the victim was pregnant, while the second charge refers to a similar assault in Lane County in 2022 involving the same victim.
The suspect remains held at the Deschutes County Jail on $55,000 bail, with a formal indictment hearing scheduled for February 14.
The situation prompted widespread concern among local residents, many of whom received alerts from DCSO’s Deschutes Alerts system warning them of the suspect’s presence in the area. The sheriff’s office issued multiple public safety updates, reassuring the public that there was no further threat once Parker was captured.
“We recovered a weapon used in the assault,” said Sheriff Kent van der Kamp, noting that the swift response from local law enforcement and the public helped bring the manhunt to a successful conclusion. “The citizen who alerted authorities was key in capturing the suspect. Thanks to their vigilance, the situation ended without further incident.”
While Parker’s barefoot sprint through the snow may have been an unusual aspect of the chase, it was the coordination between law enforcement and the community that ensured his arrest and brought a sense of safety back to the area.
The investigation is ongoing, and Parker’s legal proceedings are set to continue in the coming days.
