Suspect in Bend road rage shooting appears in court after arrest; bail set
Gregory Deffenbaugh
(Update: Suspect makes court appearance, bail set at $100,000)
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — A Deschutes County judge set bail at $100,000 Monday afternoon for a road rage shooting suspect arrested at his home earlier in the day by Bend Police and the region’s SWAT team.
Circuit Judge Raymond Crutchley also told Saxton James Deaton that if he can post bail for release, he is to have no contact with the man whose car his bullet allegedly struck Sunday afternoon, and not to use or possess any firearms.
Deaton appeared by video from jail for his arraignment on charges of first-degree attempted assault with a firearm, a Class B felony, two counts of unlawful use of a weapon, first-degree criminal mischief, menacing and recklessly endangering another person.
The judge set bail after a prosecutor said Deaton fired a gun “in the middle of the day in the middle of town,” at the intersection of SE Third Street and Wilson Avenue, during a road rage incident. She said the alleged victim could not be present, because he was at work, but that he believed the suspect “appears unstable and extremely reckless” and should not be released from jail.
The judge set a Dec. 1 arraignment on an expected grand jury indictment.
Around 2 a.m. Monday, members of the Central Oregon Emergency Response Team, Bend Police detectives and officers served a warrant at Deaton’s home in the 900 block of Butler Market Road, Bend PD Captain Brian Beekman said. He was arrested and taken to the Deschutes County Jail on suspicion of first-degree attempted assault, menacing, and unlawful use of a weapon.
The road rage incident led to a shooting on Sunday afternoon near SE Third Street and Wilson Avenue. The victim, a 19-year-old Bend resident, was not injured, police said.
Bend Police are investigating the incident, which occurred at approximately 1:45 p.m. A single round was fired into the victim’s occupied vehicle following an altercation on the road.
Prior to the shooting, the suspect’s vehicle was reportedly seen driving at a high rate of speed southbound on SE Third Street, performing an unsafe passing maneuver near the railroad overpass.
The motive behind the shooting remains unclear.