2 police vehicles are damaged in March 7 pursuit

By Terry Murry on Wednesday, March 18th, 2026 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories

UMATILLA COUNTY – A high-speed pursuit on March 7 saw a Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office vehicle collide with a Pendleton Police Department (PPD) vehicle. How is such a crash treated.

Umatilla County Sheriff Terry Rowan said the two departments contact a neutral department to investigate the collision. In this case it was the Oregon State Police (OSP) who tackled the investigation.

“If we’re found to be at fault, I’m sure that we’ll end up paying for any damages related to it and them move forward from there,” Rowan said.

OSP Lt. Karl Farber said that although the investigation is not yet complete, it appears that the county was at fault in the crash. The good news is that there was a third PPD vehicle in the pursuit which ended at Walmart when the driver crashed into multiple vehicles in the parking lot and an OSP trooper rammed the vehicle to bring it to a stop.

Michael Lee Horrocks, 30, of Pendleton was arrested on several charges including unlawful use of a weapon and attempt to elude in a vehicle.