Bend RV arson suspect caught after crash, search, pursuit
Bryan Lindley is accused of setting motor home ablaze 2 weeks ago
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- A Bend man sought by police since allegedly setting fire to a motor home he shared with his estranged wife two weeks ago ran from a rollover crash east of Bend Saturday afternoon and was found hiding and captured after a brief chase on foot, police said.
Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies responded around 4:30 p.m. to the reported single-vehicle rollover crash on Powell Butte Highway north of Butler Market Road, Lt. Brian Beekman said. A caller reported the driver had run from the scene.
Deputies and Bend police responded to the crash of a silver 1999 Nissan Pathfinder and established a search perimeter, Beekman said.
A unit on the perimeter near the Powell Butte Highway and McGrath Road spotted a man hiding in nearby trees and took Bryan Dale Lindley, 59, into custody after a brief pursuit on foot, the lieutenant said.
Lindley was taken to St. Charles Bend for evaluation, then booked into the county jail on charges including first-degree arson, two counts of reckless endangering, fourth-degree assault (domestic violence) and violation of a restraining order.
He remained held Sunday on $410,000 bail. Other, earlier charges listed in the jail records include contempt of court, two counts of strangulation, coercion and menacing.
On Sunday, Feb. 9, police were called around 5:10 p.m. to the Crown Villa RV Park on Brosterhous Road on reports that a Bounder motor home was engulfed in flames. Police said Lindley reportedly set fire to the motor home he owned with his estranged wife, then left in the SUV involved in Saturday’s crash.
