Fugitive caught after Tumalo car theft, NE Bend crash

(Update: Fugitive caught; comments from resident at crash scene)

A Bend man involved in a Tumalo car theft who fled a northeast Bend crash Monday night, prompting an extensive manhunt and warning to area residents, was captured late Tuesday afternoon at a northeast Bend home, officials said.

Deschutes County sheriff’s Sgt. William Bailey said Christopher Aviles, 28, of Bend, was arrested around 5:40 p.m. and taken to the county jail, where he was held without bail on a parole violation, also charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle.

Bailey said Aviles was located after dispatchers received a call reporting he was at a home of a family member and Bend police initially responded to the scene. The sergeant would not disclose a specific location of the arrest, but said Aviles was taken into custody without incident.

Deputies had responded around 8:30 p.m. Monday to a report that a silver 2001 Subaru Impreza had just been stolen while left running in front of the Shell Tumalo Country Store, Sgt. William Bailey said.

A few minutes later, a deputy spotted the stolen car in the area of Northeast Third Street and Empire Avenue in Bend, Bailey said. He followed the car east on Empire, then north on Layton Avenue and east onto Boulderfield Avenue.

Bailey said the driver, later identified as Ashley Bingenheimer, 28, of Bend, then quickly sped away from the deputy, heading east. The deputy turned on his overhead lights and siren to stop the car, but the driver failed to yield and and kept accelerating.

Because it was a residential area, the deputy didn’t exceed about 30 mph as the car sped out of sight, as he “did not give chase due to the residential area and risk to the community,” Bailey said in a news release.

The deputy kept driving in the last known direction of the stolen car. Near the intersection of Boulderfield and Black Powder Lane, the deputy found the stolen car — after the driver lost control and crashed through several front-yard fences at the McCall Landing townhouse, nearly striking one of the homes, Bailey said.

The deputy also saw a man and woman walking away and a nearby citizen said they were the ones who had been in the car, Bailey said.

The deputy directed the pair to stop and get on the ground while advising neighbors in the area to move away from the suspects.

Bailey said Aviles refused to follow commands and had his hands concealed near his front waistline. He took off running toward a large construction site nearby.

Bingenheimer complied with deputies commands and stopped and laid down on the ground, where she was handcuffed and detained without further incident.

Bingenhemer was taken by Bend Fire medics to St. Charles Bend for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. She was cited in lieu of custody at the hospital on charges of reckless driving, unlawful possession and use of a motor vehicle, felony attempt to elude and first-degree criminal mischief.

Scott Kinkaid lives in one of the townhomes and was eating dinner when he saw a bright light coming from outside.

“It sounded like a fireball, like a meteor coming through my yard and my neighbors yard. It was kind of crazy,” he said.

Tire marks and broken glass were still visible Tuesday in Kinkaid’s front yard.

“It just plowed right through it. It finally stopped after the third neighbors house, Kinkaid said. “People were out here with their cameras and screaming.”

Bailey said the two had conspired to steal the car and Aviles was the front passenger. Bailey said video surveillance video from the Tumalo store helped officials determine Bingenheimer was driving, not Aviles.

Residents in the area received phone calls and texts advising of the search and for residents to secure their windows and doors and to be on the lookout in their streets and yards.

Aviles pleaded no contest to vehicle theft in March 2016 and was sentenced to 18 months probation, court records show. He also pleaded guilty to one count of heroin delivery in 2012 and received probation, but two years later was sentenced to 19 months in prison for violating probation.

Bingenheimer also has a criminal record, dating back to 2007, most recently a third-degree misdemeanor theft conviction last year that led to a sentence of one year probation.