Police: Bend man barricaded PD HQ, threatened to ‘burn’ city

(Update: New police details about barricading of police HQ, threat to ‘burn community’)

A 21-year-old Bend man who had threatened police and to “burn down the community” apparently tried to barricade police in their headquarters Monday and later fled police until his pickup was stopped by spike strips east of town and police used chemical agents to end a standoff and force him out of the truck, officers said.

An officer leaving their shift at 2:15 a.m. heard a commotion near the gate of the secured parking lot at police headquarters, at Northeast 15th Street and Highway 20, by Pilot Butte, Lt. Clint Burleigh said.

The officer interrupted a man hitting the security-code keypad, damaging it beyond further use, the lieutenant said.

Officers tried to contact the man, but he sped away in a gray 1998 Dodge pickup truck, Burleigh said.

Further inspection of the police department and security video footage showed the man, later identified as Samuel Wyatt Dennis of Bend, throwing an object into the secured lot, damaging a police vehicle.

Dennis also allegedly placed a board through the front door handles inside the police lobby, leaned a heavy metal object against the door and etched letters into the front glass door and on the concrete in front of the front doors. Burleigh said.

Officers and detectives who began to investigate quickly identified the suspect as Dennis, who Burleigh said had “made calls to Bend Fire and Rescue mentioning burning the community to the ground.”

“From the statements and actions by Dennis, and by essentially barricading the police department earlier in the morning, Dennis’ intentions to cause harm to public safety employees seemed legitimate,” the lieutenant said in a news release.

Detectives found Dennis’ pickup at his home in the 62000 block of Northeast Bunchgrass Loop. They watched as the pickup left, then returned, at which point detectives and officers tried to contact Dennis in his driveway.

At 10:18 a.m., as officers sought to arrest Dennis in the truck, he took off and drove through landscaping, prompting a low-speed pursuit that extended east of town and soon also involved the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon State Police and BLM law enforcement officers.

At 10:41 a.m., a sheriff’s deputy deployed spike strips on Alfalfa Market Road east of town to flatten the tires and disable the truck driven by Dennis. The pursuit soon left Deschutes County and ended in Crook County.

At 10:46 a.m., Dennis’s pickup stopped on George Millican Road just south of Four Corners. He was contained in the pickup while crisis negotiators with the Central Oregon Emergency Response Team (CERT) worked to reach a successful resolution, Burleigh said.

Other members of the CERT team and Oregon State Police SWAT team responded to assist in resolving the situation.

The Crook County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon Department of Transportation, Bend Fire and Rescue and BLM Fire personnel responded to assist with this incident, which closed the road for more than an hour.

Dennis was uncooperative with officers and refused to get out. At 12:17 p.m., CERT Team members deployed chemical agents to safely apprehend him.

Dennis was evaluated by Bend Fire and Rescue and taken to St. Charles Bend before being taken to the Deschutes County Jail, where he was held without bail on a parole volation. He suffered minor injuries while being taken into custody, as he was not complying with officers’ directions, Burleigh said.

Burleigh said Dennis faces initial charges of first-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving, attempt to elude and disorderly conduct, as detectives continue their investigation.

Court records show Dennis was arrested on methamphetamine possession, criminal trespass, menacing and other charges on July 4 of last year. He later pleaded guilty to the two counts of menacing and was sentenced to 30 days in jail and two years probation. The sentence was amended in November to revoke probation and impose a 45-day jail term.

Dennis also was arrested on felony charges in late July, October and December on charges of menacing, resisting arrest and fleeing or attempting to elude police, as well as reckless driving, and three times this year for driving with a suspended or revoked license, as well as one count of misdemeanor third-degree theft earlier this month.