Pa. Fugitive Nabbed in Bend After Police Chase

A fugitive from Pennsylvania who eluded police after a chase hit speeds of up to 130 mph east of Bend Monday night was arrested Tuesday afternoon at a shopping center across Highway 20 from the Deschutes County Jail, waiting for his girlfriend to get out of jail, authorities said.

Oregon State Police, Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies and Central Oregon Drug Enforcement Team detectives arrested Kenneth G. Murphy, Jr., 27, around 1:20 p.m., after troopers got a tip he might still be in the area.

The fugitive wanted out of Pennsylvania was arrested in the parking lot of Cascade Village Shopping Center, across Highway 20 from the jail and OSP Bend office, where he was awaiting his girlfriend, Ashley Kershner, 23, of Elizabethtown, Pa., after she was released from jail, troopers said.

Murphy was wanted as a parole absconder out of Pennsylvania and considered potentially violent and a flight risk by authorities. He wwas being lodged in the jail as a fugitive, with local charges pending.

OSP Lt. Carl Rhodes said a tip was received that Murphy might still be in the area.

“Once the tip came in, an interagency team effort furiously rolled out that ultimately led OSP, DCSO and CODE detectives to where he was waiting for his girlfriend,” Rhodes said. “But he got a little more than he expected when officers followed her.”

Around 10 p.m. Monday, OSP Trooper Todd Burke stopped a rented 2011 Dodge Charger for a speed violation on Highway 20E near milepost 33, east of Millican.

As the trooper walked up to contact the driver, the car sped away westbound, with the trooper trying to keep it in sight, troopers said.

Speeds reached near 130 mph until it slowed near milepost 11, turning left onto Rickard Road.

The trooper lost sight of the car but continued checking the area until it was spotted by deputies stopped in the area of Gosney Road and Crest View Lane.

The driver, later identified as Murphy, ran from the car. Troopers and sheriff’s deputies, assisted by a K-9 unit, searched the area but didn’t find Murphy. A handgun, reportedly a .22-caliber pistol, was found in the car.

Kershner was the passenger who had rented the Charger, with Pennsylvania license plates. She was arrested Monday night on a charge of attempting to elude in a vehicle.

Photos from the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and parole showed Murphy has various tattoos, including the word “Loyalty” on his hand (fist).

The trooper pursued the car at speeds up to 130 mph for more than 20 miles on Highway 20E toward Bend late Monday night until the driver turned off its headlights, turned onto a side road east of town, jumped out and ran.

OSP Sgt. Paul Collinsworth said the trooper pulled the car over near Millican, but when he approached the car, it took off.

Spike strips to deflate the car’s tires and end the chase were set up closer to town, to keep it from reaching the more congested area. But the pursuit ended by around 10:15 p.m., when the trooper reported the car had turned left (south) onto Gosney Lane where it stopped near a house and the male driver jumped out and ran.