2 pursuits end in Pendleton Saturday
By Terry Murry on Monday, March 9th, 2026 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
PENDLETON – Two pursuits ended in Pendleton Saturday. One was carried out by the Pendleton Police Department, the Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office, and the Oregon State Police and ended at Walmart. The other was led by Oregon State Police and ended at the Big Smoke parking lot.
In the Walmart pursuit, Michael Lee Horrocks was arrested. In the Big Smoke pursuit, Levi Dwayne Jones was arrested. Both face felony charges. Details of each pursuit by the lead agency are below:
Pendleton Police Chief Chuck Byram:
March 7, 2026 at 7:37 p.m., Pendleton Police Department officers were dispatched to Walmart, 2203 SW Court Avenue, regarding a reported male in the store threatening people with a knife. It was reported that the male was a former employee that was threatening to stab other employees at the store. The suspect male was reported to have left running out of the store and was leaving in a silver GMC Yukon. An officer was in the immediate area at the time of the dispatched call and observed the vehicle at SW 20th Street and SW Court Avenue. When the officer attempted to stop the driver at Southgate near the I-84 MP 209 on-ramp/off-ramp, the driver attempted to flee in the vehicle eastbound at a high rate of speed.
Due to the nature of the call, officers pursued the vehicle east on I-84. The suspect driver used the emergency vehicle turn around at MP 214 and continued west on I-84 back toward Pendleton. Two Pendleton patrol units and one UCSO unit were involved in the pursuit. When the suspect driver made the turn to head back westbound, the lead vehicle in the pursuit (PPD) was struck by the third police vehicle in the pursuit (UCSO), damaging both vehicles. The remaining PPD unit continued the pursuit, which ultimately ended up back in Pendleton at Walmart. The driver of the vehicle entered the Walmart parking lot at a high rate of speed and crashed into multiple parked vehicles in the parking lot. The pursuit ended when at OSP Trooper rammed the vehicle to get it stopped.
Officers took Michael Lee Horrocks, a 30-year-old Pendleton resident, into custody on several charges to include:
Menacing
- Unlawful use of a Weapon
- Attempt to Elude-Vehicle
- Reckless Driving
- Reckless Endangering
Additional charges could be pending from the Umatilla County District Attorney’s Office. The pursuit started at 7:40 p.m. and ended with the male in custody at 7:48 p.m. No injuries were reported to anyone. It should be noted that also occurring during this time was another incident involving a pursuit that OSP had on I-84 that ended in Pendleton at Big Smoke, which also attracted a large officer presence, but was not related to this matter. This case will be forwarded to the Umatilla County District Attorney’s Office for review and prosecution.
Oregon State Police:
A traffic stop was attempted on a vehicle operating at over 100 miles per hour on Interstate 84 at milepost 193 eastbound at approximately 7:12 p.m. on March 7. After the white Nissan Versa started swerving between lanes and was approaching heavier traffic, the attempt to stop it was terminated.
The vehicle was located a short time later and eventually stopped in the Big Smoke parking lot in Pendleton. The driver refused commands to exit his vehicle and was acting in a belligerent and disoriented manner. Pepper balls were deployed into the vehicle and (were) effective in getting the driver to exit. The driver physically resisted being taken into custody. He was identified as Levi Dwayne Jones, 37, of Kennewick. Jones was taken to Umatilla County Jail and is charged with attempt to elude and resisting arrest.
File photo of generic police pursuit
