On Thursday, March 28th, a Coos County Sheriff’s Sergeant in transit to Coquille on Hwy 42, was nearly hit head-on by a black and red motorcycle traveling in the wrong lane at over 100 mph. The motorcycle’s operator nearly hit a second vehicle head-on after just missing the Deputy who took evasive action to avoid collision.
The Deputy immediately turned and accelerated to conduct a traffic stop on the motorcycle for reckless driving, but could not catch up to the bike due to the excessive speed and rain and activated his emergency lights to signal the motorcycle to stop.
Instead, the motorcycle accelerated and pulled away quickly and the Deputy radioed ahead to additional deputies, asking them to keep eyes on the motorcycle in the event it “Ditched” up a side street so the operator could be located and taken into custody.
A Deputy saw the motorcycle at a side road intersection with Hwy. 101 and followed it about 400 yards back with its emergency lights activated and the Deputy advised that the bike had turned off on Shinglehouse Lane as another Deputy and a Coos Bay Police Officer staged at the intersection of Libby Lane and Shinglehouse Road.
In and effort to encourage the operator to end the incident, the Deputy following the motorcycle, backed off and lost sight of it on Shinglehouse Lane and for several moments, the motorcycle was nowhere to be found.
Deputies began to lock down the area while checking side roads. At this time, the motorcycle re-emerged and passed another Deputy Sheriff at the corner of Libby Lane and Shinglehouse and the deputy began to follow the motorcycle from a distance on Libby Lane with their emergency lights activated noting that the deputy stated they could not see the bike but were following a tire track left on the wet surface of the roadway.
Another Coos Bay Police unit assisted by coming down Cape Arago Hwy, again to encourage the motorcycle operator to stop this reckless, unsafe driving by allowing room to “Ditch” the vehicle.
While traveling across Libby Lane, the Deputy, who was now following the wet tire mark, lost control of their vehicle on a corner and became involved in a single-vehicle traffic crash.
The Oregon State Police responded to the crash to conduct an investigation, and the Deputy was transported to the Bay Area Hospital, where they were treated for minor injuries and released.
Coos Bay Police obtained a still photo of the suspect motorcycle when it drove by their location, and due to several callers and law enforcement investigations, the suspect’s identification is now known, and an investigation continues.
A person of interest has been identified and the Coos County Sheriff’s Office is actively looking for Sebastian Blaney for questioning.
