Lincoln City man hurt in Crook County motorcycle crash

A 23-year-old Lincoln City man was hospitalized after crashing his speeding motorcycle through a barbed-wire fence off Lone Pine Road northwest of Prineville, Crook County sheriff’s deputies said.

A sheriff’s sergeant and Redmond Fire and Rescue medics were dispatched around 2:30 a.m. on a 911 call from a witness to the single-vehicle crash at the Jefferson-Crook County line, said Sgt. Travis Jurgens.

The arriving sergeant saw the 2004 Suzuki motorcycle about 75 yards off the road, having gone through the barbed-wire fence, Jurgens said.

An investigation found that Tyler Funk, 23, had been heading south at about 95 to 100 mph when he failed to negotiate a turn and left the road, crashing through the fence. Jurgens said they had interviewed the witness to the crash and Funk himself.

Excessive speed was the main factor in the crash, Jurgens said.

Steve Rehder said on KTVZ”s Facebook page he found the wreck and called 911, waiting for the sheriff’s deputy. He said the man was “lucky to be alive,” having barely missed the cross-tie fence corner and stopped by sagebrush just short of concrete blocks in the field.

Rehder said he was driving in the same direction before the crash, with Funk having passed him before the curve.

“I knew he was going too fast for that road at night,” Rehder said.

He said he saw the dust cloud, stopped and went and found the crash site.

“Me being right behind him was just pure luck,” he said.

Rehder said Funk was able to walk up to the fence, where he helped him over and they waited for the deputy to arrive.

Funk was taken by Redmond medics to St. Charles Redmond and later brought to the Bend hospital, where a house supervisor said he was in fair condition later in the day.