NE Bend police manhunt catches assault suspect

With the help of citizens, several police agencies and a Redmond police K-9 team, a 30-year-old Bend man who ran from police in northeast Bend Sunday was found hours later, hiding in a backyard shed, and arrested in a beer-bottle assault at a tavern earlier this month, police said.

Shortly after 10 a.m., a Bend officer contacted Jake Christian Nielsen on NE 12 th Street near Greenwood Avenue about a car crash, said Lt. Kurt Koester.

Another officer recognized Nielsen’s name as someone wanted in the investigation of an assault the evening of June 7 th at the Mountains Edge Tavern at 61305 S. Highway 97, in which he allegedly got in a dispute with another patron and struck him in the head with a beer bottle, Koester said.

But when officers tried to take Nielsen into custody, he ran and eluded an extensive police search of the area, the lieutenant said.

At 1:20 p.m., a resident in the area of Northeast 12 th and Hawthorne Avenue spotted Nielsen on foot and called Deschutes County 911 dispatchers.

Officers returned to the area and set up a containment perimeter while waiting for Redmond police Sgt. Hank Majetich and his K-9 partner Arco, Koester said.

Nielsen was found hiding in a shed in a back yard in the area and taken into custody without incident. He was taken to the county jail and booked on charges of second-degree assault, second-degree burglary, third-degree escape, resisting arrest, three counts of criminal trespass and attempt to elude. Bail totaled $85,000.

Koester said Bend police wanted to thank citizens in the search area, along with the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office, 911 dispatchers and Majetich and partner Arco for their assistance in the search and arrest.