Bend man pleads not guilty to assault, hit-and-run charges in road-rage ramming, crash east of Alfalfa

Idaho man suffered non-life-threatening injuries; judge raises bail to $500,000

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – A Bend man pleaded not guilty Friday to assault, hit-and-run and other charges in an alleged road rage incident last week east of Alfalfa in which Crook County authorities said he rammed an Idaho man’s car from behind several times during a high-speed pursuit, causing a rollover crash.

Wesley Clay, 55, also is accused of reckless driving and reckless endangering in the encounter that occurred early the morning of Monday, April 10 on Reservoir Road, about two miles west of the Four Corners OHV Staging Area.

At Friday’s court hearing, Crook County Circuit Judge Daina Vitolins increased Clay’s bail to $500,000 and, if able to post the 10% bail, ordered him to have no contact with the victim and no possess no firearms or other weapons. She set a status hearing for May 3.

Sheriff’s Lt. Don Wagner said deputies responded around 1:40 a.m. that Monday to the report of a non-injury hit-and-run crash.

They learned a 41-year-old Boise man had been driving a Nissan SUV near South Millican and Reservoir Road eastbound toward Bend when he encountered a Toyota pickup driven by Clay. The Idaho man swerved to avoid Clay’s pickup entering the road from an OHV trail on Millican Road, Wagner said.

Deputies said Clay overtook the SUV at a high rate of speed, swerving in front of him and slamming on the brakes. Wagner said the encounter turned into a high-speed chase on Reservoir Road, in which Clay repeatedly rammed the SUV from behind several times, ultimately causing the Idaho driver to lose control, leave the road and overturn.

The Boise man originally was reported as uninjured, the lieutenant said, but later sought medical attention for non-life-threatening injuries.

Clay’s pickup was found abandoned several hours later in the Horse Ridge area east of Bend, Wagner said.

Investigators located and arrested Clay on Tuesday of this week, and he was booked into the Crook County Jail.

Wagner said the sheriff’s office was assisted in the investigation by the Oregon State Police Traffic Reconstruction Unit, the Crook County District Attorney’s Office and the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office.