BBR Police Chief safe after crash

Medics put Gil Zaccaro on a backboard as a precaution, but he was not seriously injured in a wreck on Highway 20. photo by Jim Cornelius Black Butte Ranch Police Chief Gil Zaccaro escaped serious injury in a motor vehicle accident on Friday afternoon, May 14.

The accident took place on Highway 20 at the viewpoint near Plainview. Zaccaro was off duty and driving his Jeep.

According to witnesses, Zaccaro was passing a minivan when the van turned left to go into the viewpoint. Zaccaro's Jeep apparently clipped the front end of the turning van and flipped over, coming to rest on its wheels in the sagebrush at the viewpoint entrance.

"He doesn't remember, but he got himself out (of the Jeep) and then went to the ground," BBR Police Officer Mitch Elliott reported.

A Bend ambulance crew transported him to St. Charles Medical Center, but he suffered no severe injuries.

"He's doing just fine," Elliott said. "He was only there for an hour, hour-and-a-half. He had a little bit of a headache and was pretty shook up."

The police chief was on vacation at the time of the accident and he went ahead with his plans to travel to Oklahoma. Elliott said he'll be back on duty in two weeks.

Zaccaro's Jeep was wrecked, but it held together remarkably well.

"The fiberglass top was destroyed, but the rollbar did it's job," Elliott said.