Two men arrested after NE Bend pursuit, manhunt

Two Bend transients wanted for parole violation fled an attempted traffic stop in northeast Bend Sunday evening, sparking a pursuit down several streets until they reached a cul-de-sac and stopped.

The passenger was apprehended at the car but the driver ran, sparking a manhunt that found him hiding in a home’s yard, police said. The passenger, Edwin Burl Mays, later died of apparent medical issues at the jail, officials said.

At 4:23 p.m., a police officer recognized the driver of a green 1997 Pontiac Grand Am heading north on northeast Eighth Street as Adam Lee Davenport, 32, who had a felony warrant out for his arrest, said Sgt. Todd Fletcher.

The officer tried to stop the car near the intersection of Eighth and Greenwood Avenue, but the driver kept going north on Eighth Street, then turned east onto Penn Avenue as it turned into Neff Road, traveling about 50 mph, the sergeant said.

The car soon slowed to about 30 mph and turned north on Purcell Boulevard, then onto Full Moon Drive, continuing to where it becomes Moonlight Drive and eventually coming to a stop in the cul-de-sac on the north end of that street, Fletcher said.

Davenport got out and ran northeast from the car, through several home’s yards, Fletcher said. The passenger, later identified as Mays, 31, was detained at the car.

Soon, more officers responded and formed a search perimeter around the area. Davenport was found hiding in the yard of a home on Mistletoe Court and taken into custody, Fletcher said.

There were no injuries and no property was damaged during the pursuit, though one yard’s fence had minor damage as Davenport tried to elude police, Fletcher said.

Davenport and Mays were taken to the Deschutes County Jail, each held without bail on the parole violation charges. But Mays experienced “medical distress” around 9 p.m. and despite medical care could not be revived, officials said.

Davenport faces new felony and misdemeanor charges of attempt to elude, by vehicle and on foot, as well as three counts of second-degree criminal trespass, two counts of third-degree criminal trespass, reckless driving and four counts of reckless endangering.

Mays had been charged with interfering with a police officer, menacing, giving false information to a police officer and heroin possession.

Oregon State Police and sheriff’s deputies assisted Bend police in the incident. The investigation is continuing and more charges are possible, Fletcher said. Anyone with information regarding the incident was urged to call Bend police at 541-693-6911.

At the time of Sunday’s arrest, Davenport was on the Deschutes County Parole and Probation “Most Wanted” list.

Davenport last made headlines in January 2012, when he and a Bend woman were arrested in a Redmond restaurant traffic stop in a drug investigation. The pair’s mobile home on Tumalo Road also was raided and turned up evidence of a methamphetamine distribution operation.

Back in 2008, Davenport and Brandon Will were the subjects of an intensive manhunt after an assault at the J.J. Court Apartments in northeast Bend. Davenport apologized in court to his victims as he agreed to a plea deal that fall and received a prison term of more than six years.

And 12 years ago, in mid-December 2002, Davenport, then 22, and Mays, then 19, were arrested on car theft charges when a large fallen tree blocked their path during a chase of a Jeep Cherokee stolen out of a northeast Bend driveway overnight.

An officer spotted the stolen Jeep later that morning but the driver sped away, later abandoning the stolen vehicle due to the blown-down tree blocking the street.

With a police dog’s help, an officer found the two transient suspects hiding in a backyard and they were taken into custody, with the help of arriving officers. They also were jailed on no-bail parole violation warrants at that time.