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Released by Sgt. Kent Vander Kamp, Deschutes County Sheriff's Office
December 5th, 2019 – For Immediate Release
La Pine, Oregon – On December 5th, 2019 at approximately 9:43PM, Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Deputies were dispatched to motor vehicle crash into a commerical building. The manager of High Desert Self Storage located at 52620 Pan Lane, in the City of La Pine, told Deschutes County 911 that a truck drove into his employer’s building.
This was the second motor vehicle crash into a building in La Pine today.
DCSO Deputies arrived to find a 2019 Ford F250 had driven off the roadway, through a chain link fence and into a building of storage units. The truck partially penetrated two full storage units. None of the units were occupied by people.
The Deputies’ investigation determined that the 2019 Ford was being driven by 73 year-old, John Roger Pasma, of Bend, Oregon. Mr. Pasma was employed to drive the new truck from a Grants Pass car dealership to a Bend car dealership where it was to be sold the next day.
During Pasma’s drive on Highway 97, the truck's front-right tire separated from the wheel. For reasons unknown, Mr. Pasma continued to drive on the metal wheel for a substantial distance. This caused the front wheel to be ground down to the wheel studs.
When Mr. Pasma arrived in La Pine, he attempted to navigate the truck to a tire repair store before losing control of the truck. It appears Mr. Pasma applied the accelerator rather than the brake. This caused the truck to leave the roadway, through a fence and into two storage units.
No one was injured in the crash. The damage to the new truck was moderate and the metal framed building was substantial. The damage to the storage units contents are unknown since it was unsafe to enter the building.
The cause remains under investigation. Alcohol and/or drug impairment do not appear to be factors. Although citations have not been issued, reports have been forward to the DMV recommending Mr. Pasma for a driver’s license re-examination.
The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office is a full-service agency that oversees the adult jail, provides patrol, criminal investigations, civil process and search and rescue operations. Special units include SWAT, Street Crimes Unit, Marine Patrol, ATV Patrol, Forest Patrol, along with four K9 teams. Founded in 1916 and today lead by your duly elected Sheriff L. Shane Nelson, the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office serves the nearly 190,000 residents in Deschutes County. The agency has 230 authorized and funded personnel, which includes 187 sworn employees who provide services to the 3,055 square miles of Deschutes County.
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