Idaho man arrested after speeding, hit and run, standoff on roof in SW Bend neighborhood
Published 9:59 am Monday, April 22, 2024
- A Bend Police patrol vehicle is seen in this file photo.
After a high-speed chase, a hit-and-run crash and an hourslong standoff on the roof of a southwest Bend garage, an Idaho man was arrested Sunday for assault, reckless driving, eluding law enforcement and suspected DUII, police said.
An off-duty Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office deputy called 911 around 12:30 p.m. Sunday to report a gold Toyota Sequoia passing illegally, swerving and speeding as it headed west on U.S. Highway 20 near Millican, Sheila Miller, Bend Police spokesperson, said in a news release.
An Oregon State Police trooper and a sheriff’s deputy saw the Toyota and attempted to pull it over. The driver, who was later identified at Nicholas Michael Wood of Idaho, refused to stop, so the trooper and the deputy began chasing the car, Miller said. Law enforcement officers stopped their chase before reaching Bend, however. Deputies laid a spike strip on the road just outside city limits, but they were unable to stop the driver, Miller said.
Law enforcement officers clocked Wood’s speed at 90 mph outside of Bend, Miller said in a text message.
Man kept going, despite shredded tires
Once Wood, 42, reached Bend on Highway 20, he headed south on 27th Street then west on Knott Road, Miller said. Law enforcement officers were staged at several different locations but didn’t chase Wood, Miller said. Still speeding, Wood headed north on Brookswood Boulevard.
A Bend Police officer laid a second spike strip on Brookswood, Miller said. It punctured Wood’s two front tires, but Wood kept driving on shredded tires.
A Bend Police officer driving south on Brookswood turned around to chase Wood, Miller said.
Before the officer could reach him, Wood crossed into oncoming traffic, crashed head-on into a vehicle and sent two people to St. Charles Bend.
Up on the roof, for hours
Wood ran from his car around 1:24 p.m. and climbed onto the roof of a detached garage on SW Sunny Way in southwest Bend, Miller said.
Law enforcement negotiated with Wood for roughly two hours, Miller said. Officers and deputies eventually fired pepper balls and rubber bullets, which the police department calls sponge rounds, at Wood to try to coax him down.
It apparently worked. Wood climbed down from the roof on a fire truck ladder, and law enforcement officers took him into custody around 3:39 p.m., Miller said.
Wood was first taken to the hospital for evaluation, and he was booked in to the Deschutes County jail Sunday night.
Brookswood between Murphy and Reed Market roads was closed for several hours as a result of the incident, Miller said.
Miller said drugs were believed to be a factor.
Incident leads to multiple charges
The Deschutes County District Attorney’s office filed 17 charges against Wood on Monday.
A six-page document details two counts of second-degree assault and two counts of third-degree assault for allegedly crashing into and causing serious injury to Gary and Shirley Carlson, six counts of reckless endangerment, two counts of fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, two counts related to Wood’s hit and runs, reckless driving, criminal mischief and DUII.