Driver of stolen pickup tries to flee Bend police, collides with 2 vehicles on S. Hwy. 97

Police say driver went around patrol cars trying to stop him in parking lot

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – The driver of a stolen pickup truck went around police cars trying to stop him and collided with two vehicles on South Highway 97 Wednesday evening, ending up wedged against another pickup and unable to get away, officers said. Police with guns drawn ordered him out of the truck and he was jailed on several charges.

Police responded around 5:45 p.m. to a report of a stolen vehicle that occurred about a half-hour earlier at the parking lot of Goodwill Industries on South Highway 97, Sergeant R.C. Bigelow said. Officers met with the owner of the pickup and recorded it as stolen; it was not running and did not have keys in it when taken, Bigelow added.

Just after 6:30 p.m., and officer spotted the stolen pickup in the area of Pinebrook Plaza, also on South Highway 97, Bigelow said. More officers soon arrived to try to establish a perimeter around the truck.

At that point, the 46-year-old driver, who recent court records show is a Bend transient, began driving out of the parking lot, toward Highway 97. The sergeant said officers with emergency lights activated tried to stop the driver and block him in, but he accelerated, went over the curb and around the police cars, through landscaping and out onto Highway 97, amid oncoming traffic.

The stolen pickup was struck by a southbound landscaping pickup pulling a utility trailer, Bigelow said, and the stolen pickup then hit an Audi passenger car.

The stolen pickup ended up wedged against the landscaping pickup after the crash, Bigelow said. The driver tried to drive away but was unable to free the vehicle.

Officers approached the stolen pickup with guns drawn and ordered the driver out. Bend police K-9 Kim and handler Corporal James Kinsella were at the crash scene, but Kim was not deployed to make the arrest.

The driver, who was unhurt in the crash or while taken into custody, was taken to the Deschutes County Jail and lodged on charges of attempting to elude police, reckless endangering, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, second-degree assault and attempted hit-and-run.

The male driver of the landscaping pickup and a juvenile passenger received minor injuries and were evaluated by Bend Fire & Rescue medics but were not transported for further medical care, Bigelow said. The Audi’s driver was not injured.

Traffic on South Highway 97 was diverted for about an hour, until the vehicles could be removed.