Eugene officers use Taser, patrol car to stop driver resisting DUII arrest

An automatic crash-detection alert drew Eugene officers to Morning View Drive and Garfield in far south Eugene early March 4, and a traffic stop escalated when 22-year-old Logan Keona-Rayne Whitney tried to flee with an officer still inside his Toyota Corolla, police said. Officers used a Taser and a patrol vehicle to stop the car; Whitney was taken to a hospital for evaluation and then booked into Lane County Jail.

KVAL reported that Central Lane 911 received the automatic crash-detection notification at 2:34 a.m. An officer spotted the Toyota Corolla driving in the opposite direction and, when the officer turned to effect a stop, the driver parked his vehicle and officers contacted him. KVAL said officers developed probable cause to arrest Whitney for DUII during the contact.

Two officers attempted to remove Whitney from the vehicle and he resisted, then started the car and put it in drive, KVAL and Lookout Eugene-Springfield reported. One officer tried to put the car in park to prevent it from leaving and that officer ended up inside the vehicle as Whitney drove away, according to KVAL. That officer was able to steer the vehicle into a curb, the news outlet said.

The Eugene Police Department described the scene as a high-risk situation. "During this high-risk situation, the officer used a taser to gain compliance and Whitney attempted to grab it," the department said in a news release quoted by KVAL and Lookout. KVAL also quoted the release: "Whitney did not stop his behavior but continued to step on the gas pedal."

When Whitney continued resisting, a third officer used his patrol vehicle to pin the Corolla, Lookout and KVAL reported. Several officers were required to take Whitney into custody at the scene, and NBC16 noted that the officer’s identity and condition were not available from police at the time of initial reporting. After on-scene processing Whitney was transported to a local hospital for evaluation and then to Lane County Jail.

KVAL provided the most detailed list of charges, reporting that Whitney was booked on counts that include DUII, Reckless Driving, four counts of Reckless Endangering, Resisting Arrest, Kidnapping in the Second Degree, and Attempted Elude by Vehicle. Lookout and NBC16 reported the arrest as involving suspicion of DUII, resisting arrest and second-degree kidnapping among other charges.

The Eugene Police Department’s news release excerpts reported by local outlets frame the encounter as prompted by the crash-detection alert and escalated by Whitney’s attempt to flee with an officer in the car; Whitney now faces multiple felony and misdemeanor counts in Lane County following the March 4 incident.