DA reviewing case of citizen who held Redmond suspect at gunpoint

Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel said Monday his office is reviewing a weekend incident to determine if charges are filed against a citizen who chased and held a Redmond DUII crash suspect at gunpoint until police arrived.

“Generally, one is not allowed to pull a gun on another person unless there’s a certain provision in the law that allows it,” Hummel said, adding, “Self-defense is the classic (example).”

Officers responded around 10:15 p.m. Saturday to the 1400 block of Southwest Canyon Drive on the reported crash, said Sgt. Curtis Chambers. Dispatchers reported the driver was running away, leaving behind passengers.

Police arrived on scene and learned a citizen, who they did not identify, had helped the driver, later identified as Brandon Danley, out of the crashed pickup, then chased the suspect, caught up with him and held him at gunpoint until officers arrived and took him into custody, Chambers said.

An investigation found that Danley was heading north at the wheel of a 1999 Ford F-250 pickup when he hit a parked car. The pickup rolled and came to rest on its top. Chambers said the parked car that was hit was pushed forward into another vehicle, which then struck a third car in a chain reaction. All of the cars had the same owner, he said.

At least one of Danley’s passengers sustained minor injuries, the sergeant said.

Danley was arrested on several charges, including DUII (alcohol), failure to perform the duties of a driver in an accident (felony hit-and-run), third-degree assault, reckless driving and recklessly endangering another person.

Curtis said Danley was booked on the charges at the Redmond Police Department and released to a responsible third party.

“The Redmond police wishes to thank the citizen who assisted in the capture of Danley,” Chambers wrote in a news release. “Redmond police recognizes we cannot be everywhere at the same time and we rely and public assistance in order to do the best job possible for the people who call Redmond home.

However, he added, “We would like to remind those who choose to become involved in an incident of the possibility of unintended consequences, to include injury to self, others and putting themselves at higher risk of liability as a result of becoming involved.

“Redmond police encourages all persons to call and report incidents needing law enforcement intervention, to be a good witness and to only become involved when reasonably appropriate to do so, based upon the totality of the circumstance,” Chambers concluded.