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A quick-thinking off-duty Central Point officer helped nab two suspects who thought they could outwit the cops when they switched vehicles outside of town. “I think they were kind of surprised,” said Central Point Police Lt. Randy Clark. Brian Matthew Smith, 25, of Central Point, was arrested for eluding an officer and reckless driving. He is being lodged in Jackson County Jail on $13,500 bail. David Charles Meeker, 40, of Central Point, was arrested for a warrant and was lodged on $2,000 bail. Clark said the chase began after an officer attempted to stop a Jeep Grand Cherokee at Scenic Avenue and Upton Road at 2:24 p.m. for failing to have a front license plate. The Jeep failed to stop for the officer, and the vehicle went around a few blocks trying to flee, Clark said. There was a male driver and a female passenger in the Jeep. When the vehicle got back on Scenic, the officer decided not to pursue for fear it could put bystanders in danger. “It’s not worth it for a traffic stop,” Clark said. A few minutes later, an off-duty officer called in suspicious behavior, when he noticed a man and a woman taking items out of a vehicle and putting them into another vehicle on Kane Creek Road, just off Old Stage Road. “He said the people were acting kind of weird,” Clark said. “It was as though they were abandoning the vehicle.” When the off-duty officer said the vehicle that was being abandoned was a Jeep Grand Cherokee, Central Point Police realized the connection. “Lo and behold, it was the same people,” Clark said. The new vehicle that was picking up the people in the Jeep was a white Dodge Durango. Police raced to the scene and pulled over the Durango around 3 p.m. near the corner of Kane Creek and Old Stage without incident. They arrested Smith and determined Meeker had a warrant. Officers released a female who was originally a passenger in the Jeep and another female who was a passenger in the Durango. Officers impounded the Jeep but released the Durango to one of the women, Clark said. From start to finish, officers had corralled their suspects in about a half-hour after the elude began. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 541-776-4476 or [email protected] . Follow him on www.twitter.com/reporterdm.