Driver runs after southern Bend chase, eludes manhunt

A Bend man who fled an attempted traffic stop on the south end of Bend Saturday evening led police on a brief pursuit, then ran from his car at the end of a dead-end road, eluding a manhunt in the area by several agencies, authorities said. A passenger stayed in the car and was arrested on an outstanding warrant.

Shortly before 6 p.m., a Deschutes County sheriff’s deputy saw a white 1990 Toyota Celica run a stop sign at Baker Road and Brookswood Boulevard, Sgt. Aaron Harding said.

The deputy tried to stop the car in the area of Brookswood Boulevard and Poplar Street, but the driver, later identified as Daniel James Wallace, 34, of Bend, took off eastbound on Poplar Street in an attempt to elude the deputy, Harding said.

The brief pursuit traveled at speeds of 32 to 42 mph, ending at a dead-end in the area of Cultus Drive and Ponderosa Street, where the driver stopped, got out of his car and ran, Harding said.

A passenger who stayed in the car, Chase Lingo Swafford, 47, also of Bend, was arrested on an outstanding warrant and taken to the Deschutes County Jail, where he was held without bail on a probation violation, records showed.

Oregon State Police, Bend Police and a Bend K-9 unit assisted in the search for Wallace, but he was not found.

Jail officials provided a mugshot of Wallace, saying he was in jail last month on a contempt of court charge.

The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office asked anyone with information on Wallace’s whereabouts to call the non-emergency dispatch line at 541-693-6911.