Bend boy, 11, struck crossing S. Hwy. 97

An 11-year-old Bend boy trying to cross South Highway 97 on foot, away from an intersection, was struck by a car Thursday night and taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

Officers and Bend Fire Department medics responded shortly before 8 p.m. to the reported crash on the highway in front of the Budget Inn Motel, said police Sgt. Dan Ritchie.

They arrived to learn the boy had been struck by a 2003 Ford Focus heading north and driven by a 53-year-old Central Oregon woman. Ritchie did not release the names of the boy or driver.

An investigation found the youth had been trying to cross Highway 97 from east to west about 50 yards south of the Brosterhous Road intersection. That was the closest intersection with signals and a crosswalk, Ritchie said.

The boy was taken by ambulance to St. Charles for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

Ritchie said the investigation found “no evidence of impairment or negligence”” by the driver, and no citations were issued.