A man who Bend Police say stole a medium-sized work tractor Friday morning was caught and released before the sun rose.

Jeremy Dwayne Kelso, 34, of Bend, went free at 5:04 a.m. from Deschutes County Jail on his own recognizance because he had no Oregon criminal record, according to jail watch commander Lyn McCarthy.

He was treated at St. Charles Bend for minor bite injuries, the result of a confrontation with a police dog after police say he refused to surrender.

He was held on suspicion of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, conspiracy to commit unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, three counts of reckless endangerment and second-degree criminal mischief.

According to Bend Police: Kelso stole the work tractor around 12:35 a.m. near American Lane and Brosterhous Road in east Bend. A caller reported that she had witnessed the theft and was following Kelso, who fled the scene in a black Dodge Ram with the tractor on a trailer in tow. The woman followed but did not attempt to intervene, police said.

Kelso turned off the road into an undeveloped property in attempts of eluding the caller, but drove into a ditch at the southeast corner of Brosterhous and Murphy roads and fled on foot.

When officers arrived, a woman on scene told them Kelso had carjacked her with her two young children, ages 1 and 6, and had driven around Bend for the last 30 minutes. The officers discovered that the woman, 30-year-old Alida Bridget Kelso, was Jeremy Kelso’s wife and a co-conspirator, according to police.

Bend Police used a dog, Haras, to track Jeremy Kelso to a residential fence that had been freshly damaged, according to police.

Haras led police to a dark corner where Jeremy Kelso was hiding and refusing to surrender. He was eventually taken into custody with the assistance of the dog, police said.