Wild time at Bend gas station-store sparks chase, arrest

A Bend man who reportedly harassed and threatened workers and others at a S. Highway 97 gas station and convenience store and drove recklessly through the parking lot led police on a brief chase early Monday before he crashed his pickup in a yard and was arrested, officers said.

Police and Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies responded around 6 a.m. to the Chevron gas station on a report of harassment and an intoxicated driver, said Bend police Sgt. Jason Maniscalco.

Officers and deputies found the pickup in the parking lot, but the driver, later identified as Kylen Scott Franson, 32, refused to pull over, prompting a brief, half-mile pursuit before driving onto a yard near Benham Road and Silver Sage Street, causing damage to property there, Maniscalco said.

Franson resisted officers and was uncooperative when he was taken into custody, refusing to comply with their commands, the sergeant said.

Bridget Smith told NewsChannel 21 she and her sister were making their routine coffee run to the Java Jungle coffee stand around 5:30 a.m. when a man appearing drunk and “crazed” was harassing and threatening gas station attendants, baristas and an M & W Food Mart employee.

Driving in the area between several visits to the store, the man narrowly missed curbs, fire hydrants, other cars and pedestrians, Smith added.

Three officers were taking witness statements when Fransen allegedly returned once again. Smith said he tried to leave without police noticing, but witnesses pointed out the flatbed pickup and the chase ensued.

Franson was lodged at the Deschutes County Jail on charges of attempting to elude a police officer, resisting arrest, reckless driving, criminal mischief and hit and run, with more charges possible after a DA’s office review, Maniscalco said. He was held on $30,000 bail.