Redmond teen hurt, driver cited in Tumalo crash

A 16-year-old Redmond girl was seriously injured Saturday afternoon when the SUV she was riding in overturned while going off-road on a muddy private road in the Tumalo area, authorities said Sunday. The 20-year-old driver faces three counts of recklessly endangering another person.

Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies and Bend Fire paramedics were dispatched around 2:10 p.m. Saturday to the single-vehicle crash on a private, closed road owned by the Tumalo Irrigation District near Tumalo Reservoir Road, said sheriff’s Sgt. Deke DeMars.

Arriving deputies learned four people were in the 1998 Ford Expedition at the time of the crash, DeMars said. They had been going off-road in and out of mud puddles – known as “mudding” to some – when the driver, Micah Davis, 20, of Bend, lost control and the pickup flipped, coming to rest on its top, the sergeant said.

The 16-year-old front-seat passenger was taken by ambulance to St. Charles-Bend with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, DeMars said, adding that the other three people were examined and released at the scene by medics.

Davis was issued a citation for three counts of recklessly endangering another, DeMars said.

While the case remains under investigation, DeMars said alcohol and drugs are not considered to be factors in the crash.