Bend PD still looking for DUII suspect who fled after hitting light pole at SW Bend roundabout; 2,100 residents alerted

(Update: Adding video, Search still underway; details on sequence of events)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Bend Police were still searching Monday for a 46-year-old Bend man and suspected DUII driver who fled officers investigating a reported domestic dispute Sunday night, then crashed into a light pole at the Mount Washington Drive-Simpson Avenue roundabout and ran, prompting an alert to 2,100 area residents.

Officers responded around 8:15 p.m. to a possible domestic dispute in southwest Bend, but the suspect was gone when they arrived, Sergeant Whitney Dickson said.

Police later got a call that he had returned, so they went back to that location and contacted him in a vehicle, Dickson said. They had probable cause to arrest the man for a probation violation and suspicion of DUII.

Officers made verbal contact, telling the man to stop, but he fled officers, so they also have probable cause to arrest him on a felony charge of attempting to elude police.

Dickson said officers did not pursue his car, but knew the general direction he was heading.

They learned around 9:30 p.m. that he had crashed into and damaged an aluminum light pole at the northeast corner of the roundabout at SW Mt. Washington Drive and Simpson Avenue.

About 2,100 southwest Bend residents received the alert from Bend Police around 10 p.m. Sunday, informing them of the search for a man who fled from a crash and seeking any tips to his whereabouts, while saying “there is no known threat to the public.”

The subject was described as a white male about 5-foot-9 and 180 pounds. He last was seen wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans, with blue tennis shoes.

“If you have received this Deschutes Alert and are in the southwest area of Bend and witness suspicious behavior or a subject matching the above description, please call 9-1-1 right away,” the alert concluded.

An update alert sent around 11:30 p.m. said the search for the man was continuing.

Dickson told NewsChannel 21 Monday morning that the public alerts had not led to tips regarding the man's whereabouts, though she added, "We have some good investigative follow-up and should be able to locate him at a later time."