Wash. state couple hurt in Crook Co. motorcycle-deer crash

A Washington state couple were in fair condition Sunday at St. Charles Bend after their motorcycle pulling a trailer was struck by a deer and crashed Saturday night on the Ochoco Highway in Crook County, officials said.

Sheriff’s deputies, Oregon State Police troopers and Crook County Fire and Rescue medics were dispatched around 8:15 p.m. to the crash on Northeast Ochoco Highway at milepost 45, said Deputy Brian Bottoms.

An investigation found that Michael Freeman, 66, of Moses Lake, Wash., was operating a 1985 Harley-Davidson motorcycle with wife Patricia Freeman, 65 and pulling a small trailer, heading west on the highway, when a deer ran into the side of the motorcycle-trailer combination, causing the crash.

Both riders sustained serious injuries, according to Bottoms.

Michael Freeman was flown by LifeFlight helicopter to St. Charles Bend, while his wife was taken by ambulance to Pioneer Memorial Hospital in Prineville and later transferred to the Bend hospital, officials said.