The Portland man who stole a federal agent’s car Wednesday and led police on a high-speed chase to Washington did so after learning officers had found a cellphone during a raid of his home, an alleged violation of his federal probation for prior sex crimes.
Travis Jay Grygla, 43, a registered sex offender, was on federal probation for sexually abusing children and distributing child pornography.
Agents with federal Homeland Security Investigations had obtained a warrant to search Grygla’s home in the 2900 block of SE 119th Ave. on Wednesday after receiving a tip that he was storing and sharing images of child pornography in his home, according to a federal affidavit filed in court Thursday.
They found hidden SD cards in a bedroom he shared with a roommate, as well as a black Samsung phone, the affidavit said.
About an hour into the raid, Grygla, who was left in the front passenger seat of a federal agent’s car with no handcuffs on, told an officer standing nearby, “This is not going to go good for me,” according to the affidavit.
He then closed the car door, locked all the doors, raised an open window, slipped into the driver’s seat and took off.
Another federal agent attempted to block him as he merged from Portland’s Southeast Division Street onto I-205 northbound, but Grygla rammed the side of the agent’s car and kept going, the affidavit said.
He reached speeds of up to 115 to 120 miles as he headed north on I-205 to northbound Interstate 5 and into Washington state, according to the affidavit.
Two guns and other police gear were locked in a vault in the back of the car that Grygla stole, according to court records. Evidence seized from Grygla’s home also was inside the car, according to a Homeland Security Investigations agent.
Multiple agencies got involved in the chase, including Portland police, Vancouver police, Washington State Patrol and Cowlitz County deputy sheriffs.
Grygla avoided multiple spike strips set on the freeway before one deflated the front driver’s tire of the stolen car. Yet Grygla continued to ride on the exposed metal rim of the front tire, exiting the freeway in Castle Rock, Washington.
There, an officer attempted to stop the stolen car using a pursuit intervention tactic by ramming into the side of his back bumper, and the stolen car flipped upside down and came to a halt, according to the affidavit.
Grygla was arrested, taken to a hospital for medical evaluation and then driven back to Portland by a federal Homeland Security Investigations agent.
Grygla appeared in federal court in Portland Thursday afternoon on an alleged probation violation and new charges of possessing or accessing with intent to view child pornography.
Agents found an SD card containing numerous images of child pornography hidden in a shoe left in the wrecked federal agent’s car, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mira Chirnick said in court.
Peyton Lee, an assistant federal public defender, entered not guilty pleas on Grygla’s behalf to the new charges and said Grygla denies the alleged probation violation. U.S. Magistrate Judge Jolie A. Russo ordered Grygla to remain in custody pending trial.
Grygla has prior federal convictions in 2003 for possessing child pornography and in 2008 for distributing child pornography.
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