(Suspect Picture added in this release)
La Pine, Ore – Oregon State Police (OSP) arrested a La Pine man Friday evening on multiple charges after he fled a traffic crash in his car with 3 of his younger siblings inside in the La Pine area.
On October 31, 2014 at approximately 6:50 p.m., an OSP senior trooper was outside of his patrol car assisting pedestrian traffic with crossing the road on Highway 97 at 1st Street in La Pine. An SUV had come to a stop when it was struck from behind by a 1998 Chrysler Sebring traveling approximately 25 mph.
After seeing the collision, the trooper reported hearing a girl inside the Chrysler yell through an open window to stop because she wanted out. The car’s driver, later identified as TYLOR BRENTON BATES, age 22, from La Pine, put the car in reverse, spinning the tires as it drove away from the crash scene at a high rate of speed.
The trooper got into his patrol car and attempted to overtake and stop the Chrysler. As the fleeing vehicle turned west onto 1st Street, a small boy was seen rolling across the roadway and several citizens ran to help him. The Chrysler then turned north on Huntington Road, running a red light recklessly at a high rate of speed.
The Chrysler turned east on Burgess Road, passing vehicles on both sides of the road a high speeds. As the Chrysler turned north onto Skidgel Road, BATES lost control and the car went off the road into a ditch, through a couple fences and then hit a tree where it came to rest.
BATES was taken into custody without further incident.
The trooper found the driver’s 11 year old sister holding a dog about 25 feet away from the vehicle among trees where she said she ran to get away from her older brother. Subsequent investigation also determined that the driver had punched her in the face while driving before the hit-and-run crash earlier.
The boy who was seen rolling across the road as the vehicle fled the first crash scene was identified as the driver’s 14-year old brother who had jumped out of the moving vehicle. Another brother, age 9, was also found uninjured after the trooper learned he also got out of the moving car as the driver fled the first crash.
TYLOR BATES was lodged in the Deschutes County jail on the following charges:
* DUII
* Reckless Driving
* Felony Hit & Run
* Felony Attempt to Elude in a Vehicle
* Recklessly Endangering Another Person (5 counts)
* Assault in the Fourth Degree
* Criminal Mischief in the Second Degree
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