Oregon City, Ore — A career criminal is back in court after trying to steal nearly $2,700 worth of tires from a Les Schwab store in Oregon City, highlighting yet another example of Oregon’s catch and release justice system.
According to the Clackamas County District Attorney’s Office, 45-year-old Steven Allen Beaman was convicted Wednesday of second-degree burglary and first-degree theft after Oregon City Police caught him during a March break-in at the Les Schwab on Beavercreek Road.
Officers responding to a 6 a.m. alarm found the shop door open, a tire rolling out onto the pavement, and someone running toward a wooded area nearby. In the parking lot sat a Ram pickup loaded with eight brand new tires valued at $2,667.92, all registered to Beaman.
A woman, 29-year-old Ashley Marie Anderson, was also found near the truck. Investigators say her purse was inside the vehicle, and she initially told police a man named Brandon was driving her home. She later admitted that Beaman had driven her from Portland to Oregon City and loaded the tires himself.
Beaman tried to cover his tracks by reporting the truck stolen after the burglary, but police say location data from his cell phone placed him at the Les Schwab during the crime.
A Long Criminal History and Still Free to Offend Again
Prosecutors revealed Beaman’s long record spanning 25 years, including prior convictions for burglary, theft, drug possession, and even third-degree rape. Despite that history, he continued to walk the streets under Oregon’s lenient system.
And that’s really the problem. Oregon’s so-called justice system has become a revolving door, churning out repeat offenders faster than it can lock them up. It’s the same story time and time again — catch, release, repeat — while everyday citizens are left wondering how a convicted rapist with a two-decade rap sheet keeps getting another shot at freedom. Beaman is a textbook example of what happens when rehabilitation takes priority over accountability. In my opinion, rapists are dangerous individuals who should never be given the opportunity to reoffend. There is nothing “rehabilitative” about letting predators roam free under the guise of second chances.
His sentencing is scheduled for November 13. Anderson has also been charged with burglary and theft, but police say a warrant is still out for her arrest.
For many Oregonians, cases like this are no longer shocking. Chronic offenders are repeatedly released only to reoffend, thanks to a justice system that prioritizes rehabilitation over accountability.
At this point, Oregon’s justice system isn’t justice — it’s a punch line. It’s a bad joke that keeps getting retold, except no one’s laughing anymore. The people paying the price aren’t the criminals — they’re the ones trying to live, work, and raise families in a state that seems more interested in recycling offenders than protecting its citizens.
Oregonians deserve better than a revolving door of crime.
