Madras woman injured in Highway 26 crash

(Updating, adding driver’s comment)

A Madras woman was taken to the hospital with injuries early Saturday after her minivan left Highway 26 northwest of Prineville, crashed through a fence, toppled a juniper tree and rolled at least twice, Crook County sheriff’s deputies said.

Deputies and Prineville police responded around 5:40 a.m. to the reported single-vehicle crash on Highway 26 (Northwest Madras Highway) near the intersection with Northwest Grizzly Mountain Road, said sheriff’s Sgt. Travis Jurgens. Initial reports indicated the driver was still inside and the vehicle was on fire; the latter turned out to not be true, Jurgens said.

Arriving deputies found a gold 2015 Kia Sedona with significant damage off the west side of the highway, near milepost 16.5, Jurgens said.

They determined Jacquelynn Briggs, 41, was at the wheel of the minivan, which had been heading east (south) toward Prineville when it drifted off the west side of the highway, the sergeant said.

The Kia went through a fence and struck a juniper tree, tearing it out of the ground, then rolled at least twice on the nose of the minivan before coming to a rest on its tires, Jurgens said, adding that the crash damaged about 200 feet of fencing.

Briggs, who was alone in the vehicle, was taken to St. Charles Prinevile with non-life threatening injuries, Jurgens said. A hospital house supervisor said she was not in the patient directory on Sunday.

Briggs was wearing her seat belt at the time of the crash, which deployed all the airbags in the vehicle, Jurgens said. The crash remains under investigation, he said, but alcohol and drugs were not factors in the crash.

In a comment posted to this article on KTVZ’s Facebook page, Briggs said interactions with medications had caused a seizure, leading to the crash.

“I feel most lucky that I did not hurt anyone, then second that I walked away,” Briggs wrote. “Thank you Jesus.”