Second suspect arrested in assault on Hwy. 97 in Redmond

Police have arrested a second suspect in connection with an assault on a transient early Monday morning at a southwest Redmond intersection, police said.

Redmond police, Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies and Oregon State Police were dispatched around 4:20 a.m. Monday to the report of a male lying in the roadway at S. Highway 97 and Highland Avenue, said Sgt. Curtis Chambers. A motorist witness reported seeing two suspects running from the scene.

The victim, a 39-year-old transient and recent Redmond arrival whose name was not released, was taken to St. Charles Bend with non-life-threatening injuries and was interviewed by police detectives about what occurred, Chambers said.

Initial reports had indicated the victim was assaulted and/or a victim of a hit-and-run, so police shut down the southbound lanes of the highway for over an hour to conduct an investigation, reopening it shortly before 6 a.m. after determining no vehicle was involved.

Chambers said the suspects were identified as Redmond residents Jonathan Thomas Bailey, 31, and Jason Nelson, 37, Chambers said. He said no weapon was believed to have been involved, indicating a physical assault took place.

Bailey was contacted by police and arrested Monday afternoon on first-degree burglary and third-degree assault charges.

Nelson was contacted Tuesday at the Redmond Police Department with his attorney, and then arrested on a third-degree assault charge, booked and released from the police department.

Bailey remained in jail Wednesday, now held on $50,000 bail on charges of third- and fourth-degree assault and first-degree burglary.

Chambers said the assailants and victim knew each other, and “there are no other suspects outstanding.”

Chambers said the assault was related to an earlier reported trespassing incident at another Redmond location, a case still being investigated.

Police executed a search warrant around 7:15 p.m. Monday on a home in the 2800 block of Southwest Pumice Place in an attempt to recover more evidence. That raid concluded about 2 hours later, he said.

Chambers said Redmond police wanted to thank those who witnessed, reported and remained with the victim until help arrived. They also expressed appreciation to the sheriff’s office, OSP and ODOT for assistance at the scene.

Chambers also said police don’t take “the decision to close such a major roadway lightly,” but did so because of the initial, conflicting statement a vehicle may have been involved. Once they learned otherwise, he said, they worked “to get the roadway reopened as soon as possible.”

On Wednesday, Chambers said the investigation was continuing, in terms of the alleged reason for the dispute, the earlier reported trespass. The case has been referred to the Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office for review and charging.

Chambers noted in a news release that Redmond police typically don’t disclose such a detailed account of an assault, “but when the community is impacted in a way which causes significant inconvenience to numerous people and, as a result, generates a great deal of public interest, we feel it appropriate to disclose such details.”