Bend 18-year-old jailed in DUII hit-and-run

An 18-year-old Bend resident faces drunken driving, felony hit-and-run and other charges, accused of a crash Friday night that sent a 53-year-old man to the hospital with serious injuries, police said.

Officers responded around 10 p.m. to the reported crash in the northbound lanes of Northeast 27th Street, just south of Highway 20, Lt. Brian Kindel said. Initial reports indicated a pedestrian had been hit and was lying on the ground with head injuries.

Officers arrived and found Kelly Sondgeroth, a transient, who Bend Fire medics took by ambulance to St. Charles Bend. Kindel said Sondgeroth was in serious condition early Saturday morning, but a house supervisor said he had improved to fair condition by midday.

Debris left at the scene and witness statements indicated Sondgeroth had been hit by a vehicle whose driver fled in an unknown direction, Kindel said.

Sondgeroth was attempting to cross 27th Street south of the crosswalk at Highway 20. Kindel said he was struck by a VW Rabbit, later determined to have been driven by Edwin Dominguez, 18.

Officers were able to find Dominguez around 11 p.m. at the city’s parking garage in downtown Bend. He was arrested and booked into the Deschutes County Jail on charges of DUII, second-degree assault, felony hit-and-run, two counts of reckless endangering and minor in possession of alcohol. He was being held on $80,000 bail.