Motorcyclist hurt in Millican Valley crash

A motorcycle rider’s helmet caught on the side of a tunnel southwest of Prineville Saturday afternoon, causing a crash that sent him to a Bend hospital, Crook County sheriff’s deputies said.

William David Rush, 66, of Veneta, Ore., was in fair condition Sunday morning at St. Charles-Bend, a nursing supervisor said.

Deputies, Crook County Fire and Rescue and U.S. Forest Service personnel responded around 1:35 p.m. to the reported accident in the Millican Valley OHV (off-highway vehicle) area on the 12 Trail, where it intersects with George Millican Road, about 18 miles southwest of Prineville, said sheriff’s Sgt. Travis Jurgens.

They arrived to learn that Rush was riding a KTM 250, heading southwest on the 12 Trail, when he came to an OHV tunnel that goes under George Millican Road, Jurgens said.

While negotiating through the tunnel, Rush got too close to the side of the tunnel, catching his helmet on the side and causing him to crash, the sergeant said.

Rush’s son and friends, who were riding with him, provided first aid and kept Rush from moving until paramedics arrived. Jurgens said he was taken to the Bend hospital with possible neck and back injuries.