K-9 nabs fugitive after Redmond-to-Bend chase

An attempted traffic stop in southeast Redmond early Sunday turned into a high-speed chase down Highway 97, reaching Bend despite spike strips that punctured the SUV’s tires, authorities said.

The “most wanted” fugitive driver jumped out of the SUV on the Bend Parkway and ran, but a Bend police dog tracked him down for arrest.

Jesse William Patterson, 45, had been placed on Deschutes County Adult Parole and Probation’s ‘Most Wanted’ list only Friday, for violating parole after convictions on criminal mischief, assault and weapons charges.

Around 3:15 a.m., a Deschutes County sheriff’s deputy tried to stop a 2002 Yukon Denali SUV near SE Evergreen and Jackson avenues in Redmond for a “lighting violation,” said Lt. Chad Davis.

But the driver took off, and the deputy learned the SUV’s registered owner, Patterson, was wanted for a parole violation, Davis said.

The deputy pursued the SUV as it left Redmond, heading south on Highway 97, Davis said, reaching speeds of up to about 110 mph, though fortunately there was very little traffic at the time.

Another deputy was able to deploy spike strips near Deschutes Junction, causing the SUV’s front tires to lose air and eventually become deflated, Davis said.

Still, the driver kept going south, getting onto the parkway, stopping in the passing lane and running across the northbound lanes near the Empire Avenue overpass, the lieutenant said.

Patterson fled up an embankment, but was tracked and apprehended by Bend PD K-9 Zlatan, Davis said.

Patterson was treated for minor injuries related to the dog apprehension and lodged at the county jail on charges including attempting to elude a police officer, reckless driving, two counts of recklessly endangering another person, third-degree escape and a parole violation warrant – the latter meaning he’s held without bail.

A woman riding in the SUV was identified, interviewed and released at the scene, Davis said. But a second passenger, Cecil Archie Turner, 28, of Bend, was arrested on a probation violation charge and also held without bail at the Bend jail.

Sheriff’s deputies were assisted by Bend and Redmond police and Oregon State Police, Davis said.