REDMOND, OR -- Three people were hurt in an officer-involved crash near the Redmond Airport, Wednesday evening. Highway 126 was closed for several hours for the investigation.
Redmond Police Lt. Curtis Chambers says it all started with a police chase, just after 5 p.m. "Redmond Police were in pursuit of a vehicle that went into vacant land on the north side of Highway 126, just north of the Redmond Airport." He tells KBND News, "The suspect in that pursuit abandoned his vehicle and ran from the scene. Officers were responding to the area in an attempt to set up a perimeter, when this crash occurred."
Lt. Chambers says the officer involved in the crash was on his way to help with the perimeter. "The officer was stopped, signaling a left turn into a private driveway. The officer did not have his emergency lights or siren activated and was waiting for oncoming traffic to clear before turning left." That's when his patrol car was rear-ended at a high rate of speed by a pickup driven by 24-year-old Kelsey Dixon, of Powell Butte.
Dixon's truck then traveled into the oncoming lane and was struck by a westbound pickup, driven by a 43-year-old Christopher Lane, of Redmond. Lane was seriously hurt and flown to the hospital. Dixon was taken by ground ambulance with non-life threatening injuries.
