Bend man arrested in Hwy. 20E DUII hit-and-run

Oregon State Police, assisted by Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies, arrested a Bend man who allegedly fled the scene of an alcohol-involved injury hit-and-run crash Thursday afternoon on Highway 20E east of Bend, troopers said.

Around 4 p.m., troopers were notified of a possible injury hit-and-run crash on Highway 20E near milepost 5, near the Christian Life Center.

While en route, witnesses followed the suspect vehicle, a GMC van, from the scene until sheriff’s deputies located and stopped it at Alfalfa Market Road and Todd Road.

Troopers said driver Brian Lee White, 51, tried to make a U-turn from the westbound shoulder as a westbound Chevy pickup driven by James Floyd, 63, of Bend, was approaching and struck the pickup’s passenger side.

White stopped momentarily at the scene, then drove away until stopped by deputies. Scanner reports indicated he was driving recklessly and that some pieces of the van had fallen off onto the road as the driver was being pursued.

Floyd was taken by ambulance to St. Charles Bend with a non-life threatening injury, troopers said.

An investigation led OSP to arrest White on charges of third-degree assault, felony hit-and-run, DUII, reckless driving and recklessly endangering another person. He also was cited for refusing a breath test for blood-alcohol level, troopers said.

White was lodged in the Deschutes County Jail and released a couple hours later to a responsible third party, a jail officer said.