Redmond pair held in Prineville drive-by shooting

Two Redmond men were arrested Sunday in connection with an early-morning drive-by shooting at a northwest Prineville home in which a house was hit at least once and a parked car was struck several times, Crook County sheriff’s deputies said.

A sheriff’s deputy was dispatched around 5:20 a.m. to 4580 NW Lamonta Road on a report of shots fired at a home and vehicle by unknown suspects in a red Chevy Blazer, said Undersheriff John Gautney. The Blazer had fled at the scene when the call was made, he said.

No one was struck or injured by the shots, fired possibly from a handgun, Gautney said. Deputies found at least one bullet struck the house and several others hit the vehicle parked in the driveway.

The undersheriff said so far, it appears the shooting was “not a random act” but stemmed from a dispute between one of the residents of the home and one of the suspects while at the Jefferson County Fair and also later at a Jefferson County residence.

The investigation led to identification of suspects, and with the assistance of Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies, Crook County deputies contacted several people at Haystack Reservoir.

After those interviews, Gautney said, William Neason, 21, and Dylon Ruhl, 19, were taken into custody and booked into the Crook County Jail.

Neason is charged with unlawful use of a weapon and first-degree criminal mischief, while both men are accused of reckless endangering, menacing and second-degree criminal trespass. Bail was set at $21,000 for Neason and $11,000 for Ruhl.

Gautney said alcohol was a “probable factor in the case, but that they don’t yet know what sparked the altercation.