An alleged hit-and-run Wednesday involving a driver brandishing a knife ended with a Bend man being tackled by police while allegedly running around in his underwear, Bend Police said.
Police say it all started around 3:21 p.m. in the 700 block of NE Greenwood Avenue near Planet Fitness.
Witnesses and video showed a red 2022 Toyota Tacoma was traveling eastbound at high speed in the westbound lanes, police said. The driver allegedly entered the center lane and swerved into the eastbound lanes before hitting a pair of 2017 Dodge Ram pickups.
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One of the Dodge pickups and the Toyota ended up crossing the westbound lanes and came to rest near businesses on the north side of the street.
Police say witnesses saw the Toyota driver — identified as Timothy Joseph Murphy, 31 — get out of the truck and brandish a knife at the driver of one of the other trucks. He then allegedly ran off.
As police investigated the scene, multiple calls came in about a man in his underwear running around the vicinity, who police identified as Murphy. Police say one call came from a Bend Fire & Rescue engine crew who said the man had flagged them down, claiming to have been assaulted.
Officers found Murphy running south on Wall Street. With the assistance of Deschutes County Sheriff’s Deputies, police say Murphy was ultimately tackled and taken into custody near Bend City Hall.
Murphy was taken to jail on multiple charges including hit-and-run, reckless driving, six counts of reckless endangering, criminal mischief and menacing, police said.
One person involved in the hit-and-run was taken to St. Charles with minor injuries. Multiple lanes of NE Greenwood Avenue were closed for approximately 30 minutes.
