Driver killed in pickup crash east of Paulina

A 69-year-old Canyon City man was killed late Saturday afternoon when his pickup left the Paulina-Izee Highway, went airborne over a creek and crashed into a bank on the other side, Crook County sheriff’s deputies said.

Deputies were dispatched at 4:48 p.m. to the reported crash about 65 miles east of Prineville, 14 miles east of Paulina and six miles west of the Crook-Grant county line, said sheriff’s Sgt. James Savage.

Medics from Crook County Fire and Rescue and Rager Ambulance also were called out, he said.

Rager Ambulance was first on the scene and pronounced the driver dead at the scene. Savage identified him as Carl Lee Schnabele.

An investigation determined that Schnabele had been heading east at the wheel of a 2006 Chevy Silverado on the Izee-Paulina Highway when, for an unknown reason, he crossed into the oncomine lane and left the north side of the highway, Savage said.

The pickup then went airborne over the creek and struck a vertical bank on the opposite side, coming to an abrupt stop.

Schnabele was not wearing his seat belt at the time of the crash, the sergeant said, adding that investigators continue to look into whether there were any other contributing factors.

Oregon State Police and Prineville police assisted in the investigation.