Bend man jailed after DUII crash pushes divider 10 feet

(Update: Alcohol, prescription medicine believed involved; suspect goes to hospital after jail release)

A Bend man was arrested early Sunday on DUII and other charges after slamming his van into a Highway 97 concrete center divider so hard, it moved 10 feet and shut two lanes for three hours of repairs, officials said.

Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies were dispatched just before 1 a.m. to a reported crash on Highway 97 near the southbound on-ramp from Tumalo Place, Sgt. Deke DeMars said.

Deputies found that a black 2015 Chevy van driven by Richard Lee Kroth, 47, had been speeding down the Tumalo Place on-ramp approaching the highway and was unable to negotiate the turn to merge into the southbound lanes, DeMars said.

The van traveled straight through both southbound lanes, crashing into the center divider and moving it more than 10 feet, creating a hazard for northbound traffic, the sergeant said.

Deputies determined Kroth had been driving impaired. DeMars said, and he was arrested on charges of DUII and reckless driving. DeMars said alcohol and prescription medications are believed to be factors.

Kroth was booked into the Deschutes County Jail and released to a responsible third party around 4:15 a.m., a jail officer said.

DeMars said Kroth declined medical treatment, but aA family friend said Kroth was taken to the hospital for treatment of injuries, including broken ribs, after his release from jail.

The crash blocked the northbound and southbound “fast” (inside) lanes of Highway 97 for more than three hours while the Oregon Department of Transportation repaired the damaged dividers.

Oregon State Police also assisted at the scene, DeMars said.