Chase leads to Metolius crash, building fire, rescue

A brief pursuit of a speeding car Sunday evening led to a crash into an abandoned Metolius cafe that sparked a fire in the car and structure, authorities said. The deputy pulled the driver, an 18-year-old Madras resident, from the burning car.

“He went around the corner and overcorrected and lost control,” Jefferson County Sheriff Jim Adkins said Monday, “and he actually flipped the car several times, as you can tell by the tracks in the dirt, and landed behind the building, behind me.”

A deputy was driving to an alarm call in Culver when his patrol car was nearly struck by a vehicle passing by him, heading north on Highway 361 at Ford Lane, deputies said.

The deputy turned around and tried to make a traffic stop, deputies said, but the suspect’s vehicle fled at a high rate of speed.

As the suspect entered Metolius, the driver lost control and his vehicle flipped, crashing into an unoccupied building that residents said was an abandoned former cafe.

The crash sparked a fire, and the deputy pulled the driver out and safely away from the burning car, officials said.

“No on else was hurt,” Adkins said. “This building is a vacant building, and has been for a number of years. Fortunately, when he lost control on the corner, there were no oncoming cars, or it could have been much more disastrous than it already was.”

The driver was taken to the hospital by Jefferson County EMS with non-life-threatening injuries, deputies said. The deputy was not hurt.

Alcohol is believed to be a contributing factor in the crash, deputies said.

As of midday Monday, no charges had been filed against the teen, with more information expected to be released later.