Prineville man arrested in DUII crash into Crooked River

PRINEVILLE, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The discovery of a pickup truck in the Crooked River off the Southeast Paulina Highway Friday evening led to the arrest of a Prineville man on drunken driving charges, Crook County sheriff’s deputies said.

Deputies and Oregon State Police were dispatched around 7:15 p.m. to the reported single-vehicle crash on the highway near milepost 19, sheriff’s Sgt. Brian Bottoms said.

It was reported a pickup had run off the road and was in the river, Bottoms said. Initially, injuries were unknown, but deputies later said the driver was unhurt.

Deputies found a silver Dodge 2500 pickup down an embankment and half-submerged in the river. Bottoms said they learned the pickup was driven by Sidney Walter Hayes, 26, of Prineville, who had been heading east when he lost control and the pickup went down the embankment into the water.

Hayes was arrested at the crash scene for DUII. Despite the location, the investigation time and travel back to Prineville, Hayes still had a blood-alcohol count of .08 several hours later, the sergeant said.

Hayes was taken to St. Charles Bend to be medically cleared, then booked into the county jail on the DUII charge, Bottoms said. Hayes, who was held on $10,000 bail, also was cited for careless driving and driving uninsured.

The sheriff’s office was assisted by OSP, the Oregon Department of Transportation and a SMAF Environmental hazardous materials crew.