Public safety 1

(The Oregonian/OregonLive)

A man suspected of stealing from a Walmart store fell to his death after running from police Sunday in Hood River, a sergeant said.

Edwin Charge Jr., 20, ran through traffic on Interstate 84 and through a residential area before falling off a cliff, said Sgt. Don Cheli of the Hood River Police Department. Two other suspects were jailed, he said.

Cheli said police were never in a foot chase with Charge — a Goldendale, Washington, resident — and that officers didn't chase him off the cliff. The fall was accidental, Cheli said.

Police initially responded to the Walmart to investigate a theft, he said, and eventually arrested the other two suspects.

A state trooper saw Charge, the third suspect, run across the interstate, Cheli said. Officers responded to Westcliff Drive, which sits between the interstate and a bluff that drops to the Columbia River, and a resident told police he saw a man matching Charge's description running east.

Police, aware of the dangerous terrain, chose not to go after him, Cheli said. A Union Pacific employee found Charge's body Monday morning.

The two other theft suspects, Cadence Rogers and Lynise Browning, were booked into the Northern Oregon Regional Corrections Facility in The Dalles.

Both face second-degree theft charges, court records show.

They're accused of stealing miscellaneous merchandise valued at $100 or more, according to the records. Rogers remains jailed on $500 bail, records show, and Browning was released on bail.

— Jim Ryan

jryan@oregonian.com

503-221-8005; @Jimryan015