DCSO: Limo crash, made-up story bring DUII arrest

A Bend couple returning from a Halloween date night in a stretch limousine told Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies their driver crashed through a horse pasture fence and onto a pile of rocks east of town, then ran. But when a search failed to turn up such a driver, deputies said they determined the couple made up the story and the man was arrested on drunken driving, hit-and-run and other charges.

Deputies responded around 8:40 p.m. to the reported crash at the intersection of Bear Creek and Ten Barr Ranch roads, sheriff’s Sgt. Kent Vander Kamp said. Deputies arrived to find the black Lincoln Town Car stretch limo that had become high-centered, sitting on a mound of rocks.

Christopher Ray Grant, 46, and his female companion, 33, said they’d hired the limousine and a chauffeur for the evening, Vander Kamp said. They said they were returning home when the driver, who they didn’t know, crashed and ran before deputies arrived. No one was injured in the crash.

Deputies searched the area for the missing driver without success, assisted by Bend police K-9 Kim and her handler, Officer Kevin Uballez.

Investigating deputies soon determined that Grant had been driving the limo and failed to make a sharp curve, crashing through the fence, with the woman as front story. Vander Kamp said they learned the pair fabricated the story about a chauffeur who had fled the scene.

Speed and alcohol were found to be the primary cause of the crash, which caused no injuries, he said. The limo is privately owned by a third party and not part of a livery service. The horses were unhurt and were moved to an adjacent pasture by their owners.

The woman was released from the scene without charges, but Grant was booked into the county jail on charges of DUII, hit and run (property damage), cocaine possession, criminal mischief, reckless driving and recklessly endangering another person. He was held on $35,000 bail.

Explaining the hit-and-run charge, Vander Kamp noted that at first, Grant didn’t give his real name and told the property owner he wasn’t the driver. That comes under the statute title of “failing to perform the duties of a driver when property is damaged.”

Back in January, Bend police said Grant broke into a northeast Bend home and attacked an acquaintance with a knife, then returned to his home on Bear Creek Road. The region’s SWAT team was called out and he eventually surrendered and was arrested.

Court records show he pleaded not guilty in March to a seven-count indictment on charges of second-degree assault, first-degree burglary, unlawful use of a weapon, strangulation, menacing and recklessly endangering another person.

Records show he failed to appear for a hearing in July and an arrest warrant was issued. He was arraigned in late September and Circuit Judge Michael Adler agreed to his continued release, pending a trial originally set for October and rescheduled to next March.