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Police arrest 3 linked to prime Medford suspect By SARAH LEMON Mail Tribune Three major busts brought police closer to snaring one of Medford's most-wanted criminals. Oregon State Police on Thursday arrested Robert Allan Colla, 30, of the 4100 block of Merita Terrace, Central Point, on five felony and 72 misdemeanor charges. Police said Colla was a passenger in a vehicle driven by Scott Edward Perry on Dec. 31. Perry, 37, allegedly eluded state troopers on that date and is wanted on charges of escape, elude, theft, identity theft and fraudulent use of a credit card, said OSP detective Maureen Bedell. Colla was lodged in the Jackson County Jail on two counts of first-degree theft, three counts of first-degree theft by receiving; one count each of second-degree theft and second-degree theft by receiving and 70 counts of mail theft. His bail was set at $317,000. State police arrested him around 9 a.m. at the Jackson County courthouse after he was arraigned on drug charges. Colla was accompanied by his attorney and cooperated with police as they walked him across the street to jail, Bedell said. Police searched Colla's home last week and recovered items that had been reported stolen, Bedell said. She said she believes Colla knows where Perry is and will encourage Colla to talk with police. "Mr. Colla and Mr. Perry have been a crime wave in and unto themselves," Bedell said. Perry's name also surfaced when Medford police searched two residences for stolen property Wednesday. Assisted by Central Point and state police, Medford detectives searched a double-wide trailer on Sardine Creek Road in Gold Hill. Police learned that Perry had been seen at the residence carrying a rifle, said Medford police Lt. Mike Moran. But when police arrived, there was no sign of Perry, Moran added. "The only thing keeping us from arresting Scott Perry is we haven't found him," Moran said. Instead, police arrested 41-year-old Darrell Sherman Wray, of the 300 block of North Keeneway Drive, at the Sardine Creek location. Wray was jailed on seven counts of second-degree burglary, five counts of first-degree theft, two counts of second-degree theft and charges of aggravated first-degree theft, unauthorized use of a vehicle, and second-degree criminal trespass and criminal mischief. He was held on $88,000 bail. Wray's arrest led police to Gilbert Floyd Schelin, who was apprehended at his home in the 300 block of Chestnut Avenue where police recovered household items and sporting equipment reported stolen. Schelin, 39, was jailed on charges of second-degree burglary, aggravated first-degree theft, first-degree theft, conspiracy to commit second-degree burglary and first-degree theft and three counts of first-degree theft by receiving. He was jailed on $45,000 bail. The two arrests cleared four Medford cases, and police recovered $10,000 in stolen property, Moran said. But $72,000 in stolen property remains missing, he added. Moran said police believe the arrests will lead to others. Both Wray and Schelin told police they did not know Perry, whom police say is a danger to the community and call Medford's "most wanted." Perry was convicted of unauthorized use of a vehicle in 2000. He also has appeared in Jackson County Circuit Court on numerous burglary, theft and criminal mischief charges since 1988. In 1994, Perry and two other inmates in the county jail tried to escape by breaking a cell window. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.