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Man in jail following long police chase Matthew Stephen Atkinson Tuesday Jul 25, 2017 at 4:47 PM Jul 25, 2017 at 6:12 PM Nick Morgan Mail Tribune @mtcrimebeatRyan Pfeil Mail Tribune @RyanPfeil A man who survived a March shooting faces assault and eluding charges after a Monday afternoon police chase through Phoenix and Talent that damaged two police cars and injured at least one officer. Matthew Stephen Atkinson, 25, made his initial court appearance Tuesday in Jackson County Circuit Court on multiple assault, attempted assault, vehicle theft and eluding charges after he allegedly stole his father's vehicle and used it to lead police on a chase that started at Picker's Paradise on South Pacific Highway and traveled through neighborhoods, business districts and the wrong way on Fern Valley Road before police stopped him with spike strips and a Pursuit Intervention Technique (using a patrol car to stop a fleeing vehicle, known as a PIT maneuver) near Highway 99.   During the chase, Atkinson allegedly struck two patrol vehicles — one belonging to Phoenix police and another belonging to Talent — and Talent police officer David Lorenz suffered neck pain during the pursuit, according to an affidavit filed Tuesday by Phoenix police. Atkinson remained lodged in jail without bail Tuesday for violating his parole on a previous eluding conviction. Atkinson also had an outstanding warrant out of Josephine County, according to Phoenix police Chief Derek Bowker. The chase began after the victim in a previous stolen car case spotted Atkinson driving down the road and called police, according to Bowker. The chase began at 3:30 p.m. at Picker's Paradise in the 3500 block of South Pacific Highway. Inside the stolen car were approximately $550 worth of stolen goods from Atkinson's parents' home in the 200 block of Chestnut Street, including a ring and a video game console, according to an affidavit. Atkinson drove south into Phoenix, then hopped onto Interstate 5, exiting at Exit 21. He headed east on West Valley View Road, then north on Suncrest Drive. As he turned north onto Payne Road, he hit spike strips laid down by Phoenix police. The spikes punctured both passenger-side tires, but the vehicle continued north on Payne Road until it came to a dead end. Atkinson then turned around and started driving back the way he had come, ramming a Phoenix police car and a Talent police car in the process. "Once his tires were flat, he wasn't really speeding, he just wasn't stopping," Bowker said. Atkinson drove into Talent on Suncrest Road with several police cars in pursuit. Officers performed a PIT maneuver on Atkinson's vehicle near the intersection of Suncrest Road and South Pacific Highway, disabling it. A female passenger with Atkinson was taken to Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center as a precaution. Atkinson survived a March 25 shooting outside his parents' home in Medford. The shooter, John Robert Hermann, was sentenced to 130 months in the case. While Atkinson was in surgery for the shooting, his friend Joshua Dean Lines burglarized his home and stole his TV and PlayStation. Lines was sentenced to two years in prison for the theft. Atkinson has prior felony convictions inside and outside Jackson County, court records show, including a 2015 third-degree rape conviction in Josephine County, and an eluding conviction for which he was sentenced May 31 to jail, a one-year driver's license suspension and supervised probation. — Reach reporter Nick Morgan at 541-776-4471 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MTCrimeBeat. Reach Ryan Pfeil at 541-776-4468 or [email protected]. Follow him at www.twitter.com/ryanpfeil.