Driver in Bend police chase linked to 2 other pursuits
A police chase that reached speeds of 65 mph late Wednesday night ended in a crash that critically injured the 24-year-old driver, who police identified late Thursday afternoon as Benjamin Robert Watson, a passenger in two other Bend police pursuits in the past 13 months.
Police late Thursday afternoon identified the driver as Benjamin Robert Watson of Bend, and said he’s in critical condition at St. Charles-Bend.
“There’s never a good time to run from the police, ” said Lt. Paul Kansky.
The pursuit of the white 1993 Honda Civic began just before 11 p.m. when an officer spotted a traffic violation and tried to pull the car over near Southeast Brosterhous and Parrell roads, but the driver took off, said Sgt. Ron Taylor.
Encountering light to no traffic, and with another officer following from behind to call out the locations, the driver of the Civic — reportedly with expired license tags — headed east on Reed Market Road to 15th Street, then south on 15th and west on Knott Road, hitting 65 mph at times.
The lights-and-sirens pursuit soon entered Deschutes River Woods on Baker Road. The driver then headed north on Brookswood Boulevard.
Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies were working to deploy tire-flattening “spike strips” ahead of the chase, but there was no indication they had been able to do so before the pursuit ended violently.
The last call-out of pursuit speeds was 75 mph just before the car crashed and overturned on Brookswood at Rancho Road, around eight minutes after the chase began.
“We don’t have a history of hurting people,” Kansky said Thursday “We are stopping people for a reason, and they should comply with the stop and comply with the investigation, whether it’s a traffic stop or a criminal stop.”
Watson apparently was thrown from the car and was reported by officers on scene to have serious head injuries, but was breathing and had a pulse.
Taylor said Bend Fire Department paramedics took Watson to St. Charles-Bend with serious injuries, adding that no one else was injured in the incident.
With police pursuing cars at high speeds at times and through residential neighborhoods, some people on KTVZ’s website and Facebook page wondered if it was safe for police to continue to pursuit. Police say it’s different in each situation, and they have to make evaluations.
“We look at the risk to the public, the risk to the officers, the risk to the driver and base the decision at that time,” said Kansky.
Sheriff’s deputies, county road crews and Oregon State Police closed Brookswood Boulevard between Buck Canyon and Rancho roads after the crash for several hours while crash reconstructionists from OSP and Bend police did their work. It was open again before the morning commute, dispatchers said.
Taylor said Watson faces charges of felony attempt to elude and reckless driving, with others expected after further investigation.
Watson made the news twice in the past 13 months in other Bend police chases, though in both of those cases, he was a passenger, according to police reports. In one case, he ran, the other, he stayed with the car — and the same Bend police dog caught the fleeing suspect in both cases.
In March, he was one of two passengers who stayed in a car after Braxton Monson, 27, of Redmond, led police on a high-speed chase in northeast Bend, then fled. Monson was found by a Bend police K-9, Zlatan, hiding in a home’s backyard.
On March 31, 2012, police said Watson was in a Chevy Blazer with Christina Ann Brown, 21, of Bend, who had a suspended driver’s license and refused to pull over for police, leading them on a chase through northeast Bend.
She eventually stopped, but police said Watson then ran from the car and jumped over several fences. Police said he ran because he had absconded from his probation officer and was under the influence of meth. With Zlatan’s help, he was found hiding in a backyard and arrested without incident.
