Dirt bike rider improving after crash west of Bend

A 44-year-old dirt bike rider was in fair condition at a Bend hospital Sunday, a day after struck a small boulder on an unmaintained forest road west of Bend and was thrown into a tree stump before the bike landed on top of him.

Deschutes County 911 dispatchers got a call around 3:45 p.m. Saturday from Jamie Chiapetta, 48, of Bend, that one of his riding partners, Pat Rupar, had crashed and sustained significant injuries in a crash while riding on private forest land near Bull Springs Road and Forest Service Road 4606, said sheriff’s Sgt. Ronny Dozier, Search and Rescue operations manager.

Sheriff’s SAR and patrol units responded to the scene, assisted by the U.S. Forest Service and Oregon State Police, Dozier said, adding that Bend Fire Department ambulance units were unable to reach the scene due to the rough terrain. AirLink also responded and its helicopter landed about a half-mile away.

The sheriff’s units helped stabilize Rupar until Forest Service law enforcement arrived with AirLink medics, Dozier said. The SAR unit brought Rupar to AirLink and the helicopter flew him to St. Charles Bend, where a house supervisor said he was in serious condition Saturday night. A subsequent check Sunday afternoon found he had improved to fair condition.

Rupar, Chiapetta and Brian Price, also of Bend, had been riding on an unmaintained road when Rupar hit the small boulder and was thrown off his dirt bike, into a stump, and the bike landed on him. The two other men were able to remove the bike from Rupar and Chiapetta called 911, Dozier said.