Lake Oswego man killed in crash on slick Hwy. 97

A thin layer of snow, along with fog and freezing fog, made for more treacherous driving conditions over much of the High Desert Monday morning and apparently contributed to a string of crashes, including a fatal head-on collision on Highway 97 about four miles north of La Pine.

The two-vehicle fatal head-on crash occurred around 5:23 a.m. near milepost 163 on Highway 97, Oregon State Police reported.

Preliminary information indicated a silver 2004 Nissan Sentra being driven by Larry Russell Gardner, 67, of Lake Oswego was heading south on the snow-covered highway when he lost control. The car slid into the oncoming lane and collided with a northbound silver 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee, said OSP Lt. Josh Brooks.

Gardner was pronounced dead at the scene after being removed from the wreckage by La Pine Rural Fire District personnel.

The driver of the Jeep Cherokee, Cassy M. Grant, 26, of Bend, was taken to St. Charles Bend with reportedly minor injuries, Brooks said. Both drivers were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash.

OSP also was assisted at the scene by Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies and ODOT

The crash and investigation closed the highway for over 3 hours, with one lane reopening to traffic with flaggers around 9:15 a.m.; TripCheck indicated the road was fully reopened by late morning. A detour was established onto Huntington and Burgess roads during the closure.

After the initial investigation, troopers learned a third car was involved in the crash, after the driver contacted OSP. A 2012 Ford Fusion driven by Alexander Slaven, 28, of La Pine, made contact with the Jeep shortly after the initial collision.

Slaven said he first thought they had not made contact and he continued on to work, where he noticed the “very slight damage”: and called OSP. Both Slaven and Grant are cooperating with the investigation, and no citations have been issued.

“The highway surface was covered with packed snow and ice at the time of the collision and driving conditions were very slick,” said OSP Lt. Daniel Swift. “OSP is reminding all drivers that winter driving conditions can be very treacherous and drivers should use extreme caution when traveling on the highways.”

Around 6:30 a.m. came reports of a three-car crash on Highway 97 north of Bend, near milepost 132, reportedly involving minor injuries – and less than 10 minutes later, another crash was reported on Highway 97, this one farther north at Airport Way, on the south side of Redmond.

Highway 126 east of Redmond also was a slick trouble area. A two-car head-on crash was reported three miles east of Powell Butte around 7:45 a.m., responded to by OSP and Crook County fire medics and sheriff’s deputies. One of the drivers reportedly suffered minor injuries in the crash, which backed up morning commute traffic in the area. The road was fully open again by about 10:30 a.m.

Fog also affected travel Sunday night and Monday morning, with freezing fog again hitting northern areas of the High Desert and delaying or canceling flights at Redmond Airport; check with your airline or the RDM flight status page http://www.flyrdm.com/?Flight-Status for updates.

NewsChannel 21 Chief Meteorologist Bob Shaw said highs likely would only reach the upper 30s Monday, with a continued chance of mixed showers and a threat of more snow showers and freezing fog overnight.