Two Bend men jailed for DUII after night out drinking, fight; one accused of burning other’s trailer, stealing dog

(Update: RV fire found to be arson; police release details)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Two Bend men who went out drinking together and got into a fight early Thursday were both later arrested on DUII charges, police said – and one also is accused of arson for burning the other’s trailer down at Scandia Village RV Park, as well as stealing his dog.

Officers responded shortly after 3 a.m. to a reported hazard at NE Third Street and Franklin Avenue, Bend Police Communications Manager Sheila Miller said.

They arrived to find a 54-year-old driver at the wheel of a gray Dodge Ram 1500 pickup blocking both northbound lanes of Third Street, she said.

An investigation determined that he and a 26-year-old man “had been drinking together over the course of several hours, first in Redmond and then in Bend,” Miller said in a news release.

While driving back to the older man’s home, at the Scandia Village RV Park, the pair got into a physical altercation. Miller said the 26-year-old punched the older man in the face, took his house keys and left on foot.

The 54-year-old was arrested on suspicion of DUII, Miller said, and officers began trying to find the 26-year-old.

While the older man was in police custody and being processed for the DUII, Bend Police and Fire were dispatched shortly before 5 a.m. to the report of an RV on fire at Scandia Village, Miller said. The fire was determined to have been arson.

Deputy Fire Marshal Dan Derlacki said the fire was called in after neighbors were awakened by a loud noise, went outside and found their neighbor's RV ablaze.

Crews arrived to find the fifth-wheel RV engulfed, and were able to extinguish the flames and prevent damage to neighboring RVs. The RV, trailer and contents are considered a complete loss, valued at $75,000.

About 30 minutes after the fire report, shortly after 5 a.m., Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies responded to a reported DUII in the 51300 block of U.S. Highway 97 in La Pine, Miller said. Deputies conducted a traffic stop and arrested the driver, the suspect in the earlier incident, on suspicion of DUII. The other man’s dog was found in the younger man’s green GMC Yukon pickup at the time.

The 26-year-old was arrested on suspicion of DUII, fourth-degree assault, first-degree charges of arson, theft and burglary and third-degree robbery.

Both men were booked into the county jail in Bend. NewsChannel 21 policy is not to name arrested suspects until they are formally charged.