Redmond woman avoids deer, crashes pickup

A Redmond woman escaped serious injury when she swerved to avoid a deer south of Prineville Friday night, causing her to over-correct and her pickup to leave the road, crash through a fence and roll several times, officials said.

Hillary Ann Pearsall, 39, was not at the wreckage of her 2004 Dodge Dakota pickup when Crook County sheriff’s deputies and fire medics reached the scene, on Reservoir Road about 25 miles south of Prineville, said sheriff’s Sgt. Travis Jurgens.

A search of the area after the 8:40 p.m. callout failed to find her, but Pearsall soon arrived on scene, being driven by family members to St. Charles Medical Center-Bend with non-life-threatening injuries, Jurgens said. A nursing supervisor at the hospital said she was treated and released.

Jurgens said an investigation found that Pearsall was heading west on Reservoir Road when she swerved to miss a deer.

The pickup left the north side of the road and Pearsall over-corrected, causing the truck to cross both lanes of traffic. She then over-corrected again, Jurgens said, and the pickup crossed both lanes again, left the north side of the road, crashed through a BLM fence and rolled several times, coming to rest on its side.

Purcell, alone in the pickup, was wearing a seatbelt, Jurgens said, adding that no citations were issued.