STORY UPDATED AT 11:45 a.m. SATURDAY

A suspect in a suspicious death at a Southeast Portland motel was booked into the Multnomah County Jail on Friday night, accused of murder, police said.

The suspect, Joshua Carlson, 31, was arrested at about 1:30 p.m. Friday in the 5200 block of Southeast Center Street.

Carlson is being investigated for his role in the death of a person at the Motel 6 off Powell Boulevard, police said. He also is being investigated for unlawful use of a motor vehicle.

Police identified the victim Saturday as Valerie Johnson, 42, of Portland. The Oregon State Medical Examiner determined Johnson died of strangulation.

Officers believe Carlson was in a stolen car that sped away from the motel before police learned someone had died there, said police spokesman Sgt. Chris Burley. They found Carlson hours later in a neighborhood about 1 ½ miles from the motel.

Police haven't provided information about the circumstances of the death. They have said the death is being investigated as a homicide.

The case began when someone sped off in a car as Central Precinct officers were doing routine patrols in the motel parking lot in the morning, Burley said. Officers gave chase but ended the pursuit when it became too dangerous, he said.

Shortly after, police found out that a person had died at the motel. Homicide and forensic investigators responded.

Police found the stolen car abandoned in the 4000 block of Southeast 51st Avenue, but didn't find anyone involved in the chase, Burley said.

But around 1:30 p.m., he said someone called 911 to say a suspicious person was in the 5200 block of Southeast Francis Street, which is a block north of Center Street.

Members of the Police Bureau's Special Emergency Reaction Team found Carlson on the roof of a home on an adjacent street, and he was taken into custody.

— Jim Ryan and Tony Hernandez

— Allan Brettman contributed