OSP: La Pine man arrested after punching, trying to disarm trooper

A La Pine man engaged in a pursuit and violent confrontation with an Oregon State Police trooper Saturday night, showing little impact from two Taser deployments and pepper spray as he punched the trooper and tried to take his rifle, OSP said.

The man ran after the weekend incident and eluded searching police, but was found riding in a car near his home Monday afternoon and arrested without further incident on several charges.

Around 10:35 p.m. Saturday, an OSP Fish and Wildlife trooper spotted a white Chevy Blazer on Burgess Road whose driver was crossing the center line and speeding at about 60 mph in a 35 mph zone, said Capt. Bill Fugate.

The trooper tried to stop the SUV on suspicion of DUI and several traffic violations, but the driver, later identified as Alexander Di Rienzo, 50, took off and led the officer on a 3.4-mile chase, turning on rear spotlights mounted on his rear bumper and blinding the trooper for a time, Fugate said.

The pursuit ended when Di Rienzo pulled into the driveway of his home at 53156 Day Road, got out began walking toward his home, Fugate said. He failed to follow commands to halt and kept walking toward his home.

Fugate said Di Rienzo “was known by the trooper as a violent individual,” due to past interactions with the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office. The trooper told Di Rienzo he was under arrest and ordered that he get on the ground, but the man “ignored these commands and began to walk toward the trooper in an aggressive manner.”

The trooper deployed his Taser twice without success, then used pepper spray, again with little effect, Fugate said.

Fugate said in such cases, officers in general perform a “high-risk” (guns drawn) traffic stop, but backup had not arrived yet.

“He knew the guy was violent, so he retrieved his patrol AR-15 out of the rack in back (of his car) and was going to do a high-risk stop when the guy came back at him.”

The trooper used the Taser twice “but he pulled the probes out, emptied a full can of pepper spray,” to little impact, Fugate said. “By then, he’s on top of the trooper, trying to pull the rifle while punching him in the face. The trooper punched him back and he disengaged,” letting go of the rifle.

Di Rienzo then fled into the home, Fugate said. A short time later, a woman came out saying Di Rienzo had fled out the back of the home.

The trooper received minor injuries in the encounter.

Police began searching for Di Rienzo, and around 3:20 p.m. Monday, an OSP Patrol Division trooper stopped a car on Burgess Road near Day Road in La Pine. Di Rienzo, a passenger, was taken into custody without incident.

Di Rienzo remained in the county jail in Bend Tuesday pending his initial court appearance on charges of first-degree robbery, assaulting a public safety officer, attempting to elude police (by vehicle and on foot), reckless driving, DUII, resisting arrest, interfering with a police officer, unlawful use of a weapon, first-degree theft and second-degree escape and reckless endangering. His initial bail totaled $340,000, jail records showed.

“The trooper showed great restraint,” Fugate said Tuesday, “because any time anyone is trying to disarm us, using deadly force is completely authorized. … Violent times as it is, we’re losing too many police officers nationwide. Fortunately, both of them are okay.”