Crook County high-speed chase ends in 2 arrests

A Crook County sheriff’s sergeant’s attempt to pull over a pickup after a report of a possible drug deal Monday evening led to an on-and-off pursuit by several agencies that ended when it got stuck on a rock going off-road, deputies said. The male driver and female passenger ran but were caught and arrested.

The sheriff’s sergeant tried to stop the 1988 Ford Ranger around 6:30 p.m. in the area of Northwest Vista View Road, Prineville police Capt. Larry Seymour said in a news release Tuesday.

The driver, identified later as Matthew Carpenter, 39, a transient from Bend and Eureka, Calif.., took off at high speed, estimated at more than 100 mph, heading toward Prineville, Seymour said.

The sergeant terminated the chase soon after it began, but the Ranger was spotted again on Northwest Gardner Road and police deployed spike strips in an attempt to slow it, the captain said.

Prineville police began pursuing the pickup, assisted by sheriff’s deputies and Oregon State Police, as Carpenter drove at speeds of 60-70 mph on the O’Neil Highway, Seymour said.

In the 3000 block of O’Neil Highway, Carpenter pulled into and went down a private driveway, then drove off-road until the Ranger high-centered on a large rock.

Carpenter and front-seat passenger Cheyenne Porter, 20, of Bend, got out and ran, pursued by police, while two other passengers stayed in the pickup, complied with police orders and were questioned and released.

Porter was apprehended a short time later while trying to go over a fence, Seymour said. A Redmond police K-9 team was called in to help find Porter, and she was located hiding in the area.

Both Carpenter and Porter were taken to the Crook County Jail. Carpenter faces initial charges of eluding in a vehicle and on foot, interfering with police, reckless endangering and reckless driving, as well as a warrant out of Jackson County. He remained held Tuesday on $70,000 bail.

Porter is charged with eluding police on foot, interfering with police, resisting arrest, a probation violation out of Deschutes County and heroin possession, Seymour said. She was held without bail for the probation violation and bail on other charges was set at $50,000.

Various items were seized and photographed, including a small amount of heroin and drug paraphernalia. A large amount of copper wire and wire insulation and a bicycle were in the bed of the pickup.

Seymour said the pursuit and capture were “another good example of how Central Oregon police agencies work together in keeping our residents safe.”