Police officer out of hospital after NE Bend crash

A Bend police officer responding to an emergency call with lights and siren collided with pickup truck at a northeast Bend intersection, causing his patrol car to hit a pedestrian, then the side of a doughnut shop, Oregon State Police said.

The officer and pedestrian were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. Cpl. Rob Emerson was released from St. Charles Bend on Sunday and pedestrian Brian Zacher was due to be discharged Monday, according to a house supervisor.

The crash, which occurred just before 7 a.m. Saturday at the corner of Northeast Eighth Street and Greenwood Avenue, closed the intersection for more than two hours for crash reconstruction.

Preliminary information indicated Emerson was driving a marked 2015 Ford Explorer west on Greenwood Avenue (Highway 20), responding with emergency lights and siren, responding to an emergency back-up call at the time of the crash, said OSP Lt. Bill Fugate.

The officer’s SUV entered the Eighth Street intersection and collided with a 1997 Chevy pickup heading south and driven by Eric C. Olson, 58, of Bend, who was unhurt, Fugate said.

After the crash, the patrol car slid onto the southwest corner of the intersection, jumped the curb and struck pedestrian Brian Zacher, 39, of Tualatin, on the sidewalk. It then continued and struck the side of the Dough Nut Midtown shop at 755 NE Greenwood Avenue, where it came to rest, Fugate said.

The collision sent the patrol car through the side of the doughnut shop, by a window. One woman was working in the shop at the time of the accident. She said she heard a loud crash and saw a cloud of dust. There were no injuries in the store.

Bend Fire medics and ODOT also responded to the scene, with eastbound traffic diverted between Seventh and Eighth streets until the road was reopened around 11 a.m.

Fugate said the investigation was ongoing and more information would be released when available.