Prineville DUII suspect arrested after car, foot chase

A 38-year-old Prineville man was arrested on DUII and other charges Friday night after he refused to pull over for a Crook County sheriff’s deputy and sped off at over 80 mph. He then stopped in the middle of the road, got out and ran through a hay field but fell, deputies said.

Around 9:45 p.m., a deputy spotted a 2000 VW Jetta heading east on Northwest Gerke Road near Lamonta Road, northwest of Prineville, said Sgt. Bill Elliott.

The deputy tried to stop the car for a lighting violation — the passenger-side brake light was out, Elliott said.

But the driver, identified as Eli Adam White, did not pull over and tried to elude the deputy for about a mile at speeds in excess of 80 mph through a rural residential area, he said.

White stopped in the middle of the road and initially complied with deputies’ directions when they initiated a high-risk (guns drawn) traffic stop, the sergeant said.

But he then abandoned his vehicle, with a female passenger inside, and ran to the southeast through a hay field. Elliott said deputies chased White for about 300 yards before he fell and was apprehended without further incident. The passenger was not charged, he added.

White was taken to the county jail and lodged on charges of DUII, attempt to elude and reckless endangering. A jail officer said he was released to his wife about a half-hour after arrival due to the matrix formula for lack of space at the county jail.

Prineville police assisted in the case, Elliott said.