Driver cited after Tumalo crash leaves car hanging

Two people were treated at the hospital for minor injuries, and the driver was cited on several charges after a two-car crash Friday afternoon at a Tumalo intersection left her car dangling precariously from a power pole guy wire, Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies said.

Deputies were dispatched at 4:18 p.m. Friday to the intersection of the Old Bend-Redmond Highway and Tumalo Road, said sheriff’s Sgt. William Bailey.

An investigation found that Brittney Schlichting, 26, of Bend, was driving a white 1999 Volvo S70 south on Old Bend Redmond Highway when she tried to pass another vehicle in a no-passing zone just before the inersection, Bailey said.

Jaszu Borzencki, 67, of Bend, was at the wheel of a gray 2004 Jeep Cherokee heading east on Tumalo Road, stopped at the stop sign, Bailey said. As the Jeep crossed Old Bend-Redmond Highway, Schlichting’s Volvo struck Borzencki’s Jeep on the front driver’s side quarter-panel.

After the collision, Schlichting’s car left the road and came to rest suspended in the air on a power pole’s guy wire, the sergeant said. Borzencki’s car spun and came to rest in the southbound lane of Old Bend-Redmond Highway.

Crash witnesses told deputies the Volvo had been speeding, tailgating and passing in a no-passing zone before the crash, Bailey said. Evidence at the scene confirmed the illegal passing, he added.

Schlichting and passenger Tommy Banks, 28, of Redmond, were taken by ambulance to St. Charles Bend, where they were treated for non-life-threatening injuries and released, officials said. Borzencki and his passenger, Francis Fazzino Jr., 63, of Connecticut, were unhurt, Bailey said.

Schlichting was cited on charges of following too close, passing in a no-passing zone and driving without insurance.

Both vehicles were towed from the scene, Bailey said, adding that the investigation was continuing. The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office was assisted at the scene by the Bend Fire Department.