A late-night ride on Highway 380 in Crook County ended in tragedy Friday when a Prineville cyclist was struck and killed by an SUV, and the driver was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. Authorities identified the victim as 57-year-old Monte Scott Greene of Prineville. The crash shut down the highway for hours while investigators worked the scene, and officials say the case is still very much active.
OSP: Crash Occurred Near Milepost 60
According to a press release from the Oregon State Police posted on FlashAlert, troopers responded just before 11 p.m. to a single-vehicle, fatal collision on Combs Flat Road (Highway 380) near milepost .60 in Crook County. The release identifies the driver as 36-year-old Abigail Marie Hedges of Prineville and states that bicyclist Monte Scott Greene was pronounced dead at the scene. OSP said impairment is suspected and that Hedges was arrested for DUII. The agency reported that the highway was affected for roughly four hours while the Collision Reconstruction Unit processed the scene.
Local Reporting: Former Dispatcher, Additional Charges Reported
Local coverage from KTVZ reports that jail records list one count of DUII and a felony charge of criminally negligent homicide for Hedges. KTVZ also reports that DPSST records show Hedges worked earlier this year as a 911 dispatcher for the Prineville Police Department, and that the city’s interim police chief confirmed she is no longer employed there. The outlet notes that bystanders recorded portions of the incident on video and that Prineville police posted a briefing to the department’s Facebook page.
What The Charges Mean
Under Oregon law, criminally negligent homicide is defined as causing a death through criminal negligence, according to the Oregon Legislature, and it is treated as a felony-level homicide offense within the state’s sentencing framework. Prosecutors must decide whether to pursue homicide-related counts as the OSP investigation moves forward.
Investigation And Next Steps
OSP said its Crash Reconstruction Unit is leading the investigation and that the Prineville Police Department, Crook County Sheriff’s Office, Prineville Fire Department and the Oregon Department of Transportation assisted at the scene, according to the agency’s release. Investigators asked anyone with information to contact OSP dispatch and said the cause of the crash remains under review. The case will be forwarded to the Crook County District Attorney’s Office if additional charges are found to be warranted.
