Fall Creek man arrested after hit-and-run seriously injures motorcyclist, sheriff says

A motorcycle rider was taken to an area hospital with serious injuries after a hit-and-run crash just before midnight on April 5 at Jasper Lowell Road and Pengra Road west of Fall Creek, and Lane County sheriff’s deputies say the vehicle that struck the rider disappeared from the scene.

Deputies responded with fire personnel after the crash and said the motorcycle rider was hit by a vehicle that fled. Investigators then worked from debris left behind to identify the make and model of the suspect vehicle, a step that helped narrow the search in a case that left the injured rider and family waiting for answers.

On April 26, deputies located a matching vehicle at a residence in the 39000 block of Jasper Lowell Road in Fall Creek. Deputies said the vehicle was partially hidden under a tarp. After additional investigation, they determined the vehicle was involved in the crash and identified the driver as John Thomas Klinchok, 60, of Fall Creek.

Klinchok was arrested and lodged at the Lane County Jail on suspicion of Assault in the 1st Degree, Failure to Perform Duties of a Driver to Injured Persons and Driving While Suspended, a felony. The sheriff’s office thanked community members who helped with the case, underscoring how reports and local awareness can help move a serious crash investigation forward when a driver leaves the scene.

The arrest lands against a broader road-safety backdrop in Lane County, where the sheriff’s office has said it does not have a dedicated traffic team or a deputy assigned to DUI enforcement because of funding limits. Even so, deputies continue to respond to roadway crashes and impaired-driving calls across the county, from rural stretches near Fall Creek to busier corridors elsewhere in the valley.