SE Bend driver jailed on DUII, hit-and-run charges after crashing into front of house, car
(Update: Adding video, comments by resident, police)
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – A Bend woman was arrested on DUII, reckless driving and other charges Saturday night, accused of crashing into a fence and driveway awning in front of a southeast Bend home, then a parked car in the driveway and back into the front yard again before fleeing the scene, police said.
Officers were called just after 9:30 p.m. to a report of a crash into a home in the 400 block of Southeast Railroad Street, Sergeant R.C. Bigelow said.
Deschutes County 911 dispatchers took several calls from people saying the driver was speeding before the car crashed into the front area of the house. The witnesses said the driver then backed up and struck a parked car in the driveway, then into the front of the house again, Bigelow said.
The driver fled before officers arrived, but several witnesses described the car as a silver or white Subaru Legacy or Outback, the sergeant said. A witness also provided officers with video of part of the incident.
No injuries were reported, officers said.
The resident and damaged car's owner, Jaime Stewart, said Sunday they heard the crash and saw lights, then came out to find a pillar holding up the front porch had been knocked down, along with other damage. She said she did not know the driver.
"I had seen headlights and my car just go flying into this pole," Stewart said. "And then, the car just kept hitting the driveway. It kept hitting the fence, probably 10 times, and it just went that way," she said, pointing.
Shortly before 10 p.m. Saturday, a Bend officer spotted a car matching the witnesses’ description, a silver Subaru Outback, on Hunnell Road, north of the intersection with Empire Avenue, Bigelow said.
Officers found the driver, a 40-year-old Bend woman, a short distance away. She was arrested and jailed on charges of first-degree criminal mischief, DUII, hit-and-run (property damage), reckless endangering and reckless driving.
Bend police Sgt. Robert Jones noted, "This year, we have two DUII enforcement officers, and one of them started in late February and the other one started about a month ago. And together, since they've started the DUII enforcement, they've arrested 78 DUII drivers."
