Powell Butte Rear-End Crash Injures Two

A Prineville couple was flown to a Bend hospital Monday afternoon after their car was rear-ended by an SUV on Highway 126 near the Powell Butte Country Store, Crook County sheriffs deputies said. The other driver, who declined treatment, was cited for following too closely.

Crook County sheriff?s deputies and fire medics were dispatched around 2:15 p.m. to a two-vehicle crash at the corner of Highway 126 and Williams Road in Powell Butte, said Deputy Ryan Seaney.

An investigation found that a 2002 Buick Rendezvous SUV, driven by Robert Althiser, 28, of Culver, rear-ended a 2003 Oldsmobile Alero driven by Stella Kleber, 68, of Prineville, Seaney said.

Both vehicles had been heading east, toward Prineville, when the Alero apparently was slowing or stopped to make a left turn and was struck by the Buick, he said,

Stella Kleber and her husband, Haywood Kleber, 81, the passenger in the Alero, were flown by AirLink helicopter to St. Charles Medical Center-Bend. A nursing supervisor said Haywood Kleber was in fair condition at the hospital Monday night, while his wife was treated and released.

Highway 126 was closed off and on for about an hour during the crash investigation, assisted by ODOT.