Bend Police investigating death of man run over on Highway 97

Published 1:03 pm Friday, October 13, 2023

A 45-year-old man was run over Friday morning while lying in a lane of U.S. Highway 97 in Bend, but his cause of death is still being investigated.

At approximately 3:14 a.m., Bend Police responded to a call from 22-year-old Brandon Wensel, who said he ran over a person lying in the right lane of the highway near the exit for Empire Avenue. Wensel was driving south in a Chevy Suburban.

Arriving officers found James Samson Paris dead at the scene. Wensel remained with investigators and cooperated with police as they redirected traffic along Third Street. The highway was closed for approximately 3½ hours while the department’s crash reconstruction team investigated the scene.

Paris’ last recorded address was listed as “transient” in a citation for trespassing on June 26. Sheila Miller, public information officer for Bend Police, stated that the department “has previous addresses for him at a variety of locations, but I believe he was likely transient at the time of his death.”

Miller said that Wensel, a La Pine resident with no record in the state of Oregon, has not been charged at this point. However, the crash investigation team will continue its investigation to confirm events unfolded the way Wensel stated.

The Deschutes County Medical Examiner’s Office has yet to determine the cause of death.

Last year, the Oregon Department of Transportation Department reported 600 motor vehicle traffic fatalities. As of October, the unit has only reported 441 fatalities, putting the state on track for fewer traffic-related fatalities overall.

However, the Oregon Health Authority reported that Oregon’s fatal transportation injury count rate has increased by 40% in the last decade.