Bend man injured in Fryrear Road crash

A Bend man delivering mail for the U.S. Postal Service was seriously injured and flown to a Bend hospital Friday after his station wagon was struck by a Sisters man’s pickup truck on Fryrear Road east of Sisters, Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies said.

Deputies and Cloverdale Fire Department medics were dispatched around 11:40 a.m. to the crash about 1.3 miles north of Hwy. 20W, said sheriff’s Lt. Bryan Husband. It was reported that the USPS driver, Michael Wilson, 53, was trapped in his Subaru, and a Life Flight air ambulance was requested.

Deputies learned that Wilson’s 1991 Subaru Legacy was on the northbound shoulder of Fryrear Road, near two mailboxes, while Tygh Redfield, 63, of Sisters, was driving his 2003 Toyota Tacoma Extra Cab pickup truck heading south on the road when, for an unknown reason, Wilson’s Subaru lurched forward and to the left, into Redfield’s lane, Husband said.

Redfield did not have time to react, and his pickup struck the right side of Wilson’s Subaru on the southbound shoulder. Both vehicles then continued west of Fryrear Road, crashing through a nearby resident’s fence.

Wilson’s wagon struck a nearby tree head-on, while Redfield’s truck came to rest nearby.

Fire medics cut Wilson out of his Subaru and he was flown to St. Charles-Bend, where a nursing supervisor said he was in serious condition later Friday. Redfield was treated at the crash scene and released, Husband said.

Wilson, who was delivering mail, was not wearing his seat belt at the time of the crash, the lieutenant noted. Drugs or alcohol are not suspected factors in the crash, Husband said. No citations have been issued as the investigation continues.