OSP arrests Terrebonne couple, accused of making false shots-fired calls to avoid car being towed

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – A Terrebonne couple pulled over by Oregon State Police for speeding on Highway 97 late Wednesday night was arrested and jailed, accused of both calling 911 on their cellphones to falsely report shots fired near a nearby store after a trooper called for their SUV to be towed.

A trooper said he stopped the SUV near milepost 132 around 11 p.m. Wednesday for speeding. The driver, a 47-year-old Terrebonne woman, provided an Oregon ID card but not a license, he said, and claimed the vehicle was insured, but had no proof. A DMV report said the vehicle last was insured in 2021, OSP said.

The trooper said he informed the driver and her passenger, a 47-year-old Terrebonne man, that the vehicle would be towed due to lack of insurance.

While they waited for the tow truck, the pair both allegedly called Deschutes County 911 dispatch from their cellphones to report a shots-fired call in the area of Lowe’s Home Improvement on Bend’s north end, OSP said.

“Dispatch notified me that the phone call was pinging from our location,” the trooper wrote in his log entry. “After interviewing both occupants, it was found that the report was false, and was an attempt to make me leave the location.”

OSP said the man and woman were arrested and booked into the county jail for initiating a false report, and Bend Towing towed the SUV. The woman also was cited for driving without a license or proof of insurance.