Sisters man arrested for hit and run

Rodney Allen Stambaugh of Sisters was cited in connection with an alleged hit and run accident on Highway 20 on Monday, September 6.

Sheriff's deputies responded to a report of a hit and run on Highway 20 at about milepost 95 on Monday afternoon. According to sheriff's office reports, a deputy found a Jeep on the roadside with its hood up. The driver reported that he was westbound on the highway when a brown full-size Chevrolet pickup truck crossed the center line and came toward the Jeep.

The driver reported that he swerved to avoid a head-on collision and was grazed by the truck. The driver had his wife and three-year-old son in the vehicle with him.

The driver gave deputies a description of the driver of the truck.

Later that day, deputies responded to a report of a trespass in progress at a home in Sisters. According to sheriff's office reports, Stambaugh was apparently intoxicated and his girlfriend wanted him to leave her house. He was allegedly drunk and upset about losses at the racetrack in Lebanon.

Deputies reported that a friend of Stambaugh's indicated that Stambaugh had admitted to him that he had been involved in an accident on the way back to Sisters.

Deputies examined Stambaugh's truck, which matched the description of the truck involved in the earlier hit and run.

According to deputies, Stambaugh was "visibly intoxicated." They arrested him and transported him to Deschutes County Jail. Enroute to the jail, Stambaugh allegedly claimed that the other vehicle was as much in his lane as Stambaugh was in his and that "a high dollar guy with a cell phone" made a phone call before he did.

Stambaugh reportedly failed a field sobriety test at the jail, but registered a .05 percent blood alcohol level on the breath analysis machine. That is below the legal limit of .08 percent blood alcohol.

Stambaugh acknowledged to deputies that he was taking medication. That medication, according to deputies, was labeled with a warning that it may cause drowsiness and those taking it should not drive.

Stambaugh was taken into custody on charges of driving under the influence of intoxicants, three counts of recklessly endangering another person and failing to perform the duties of a driver at an accident scene.