Bend man jailed in DUII motorcycle crash that injured girl

A 38-year-old Bend man was arrested Friday night on DUII, assault and reckless driving charges in a motorcycle crash earlier this month that seriously injured a 10-year-old girl.

Bend police and fire medics responded around 9:20 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 3 to the reported motorcycle crash on O.B. Riley Road near Firerock Road, police Lt. Clint Burleigh said Saturday.

Officers arrived to find a 2012 Triumph motorcycle had crashed with two riders, Matthew Jonathan Lee and a 10-year-old Bend girl, Burleigh said, adding that both motorcyclists had been wearing a helmet.

Both were taken to St. Charles, the girl with serious but non-life threatening injuries and Lee with minor injuries, according to the lieutenant.

During the investigation, witnesses said the motorcycle had turned off Empire Avenue, heading north of O.B. Riley Road and accelerating quickly from the intersection just before the crash.

“Due to certain dynamics with the incident,” Burleigh said in a news release, officers conducted further investigation during the next several days. During the initial investigation, alcohol was believed to be a contributing factor to the crash.

Lee was contacted shortly before 9 p.m. Friday in the 63000 block of Midway Way and arrested on charges of DUII, third- and fourth-degree assault, reckless driving and reckless endangering. He was booked into the Deschutes County Jail but released the same night after posting 10 percent of the $35,000 bail, an officer said.

“This is an important reminder for our community to understand your limits when consuming alcohol and/or marijuana,” Burleigh said in a news release.