PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Oregon State Police are looking for an individual that fled after a woman was “seriously” injured in a crash on Interstate 5.
On Saturday afternoon, police were told a 2011 silver Mercedes sedan was involved with possible drug trafficking and had an “endangered” female as a passenger. Police were told the vehicle was traveling to Grants Pass from Medford.
At 3:30 p.m., police found the vehicle traveling north on Interstate 5 near mile marker 55. After committing at least two traffic violations, the Mercedes left Interstate 5 and traveled west on Grants Pass Parkway.
An OSP trooper tried to pull over the vehicle at Grants Pass Parkway and Agness Avenue, and it pulled over into a nearby Sharis Restaurant. At that point, police said the female passenger ran from the car before the Mercedes sped away toward Interstate 5.
The vehicle then drove the wrong direction onto the Interstate 5 off ramp, and the trooper stopped following it.
Not long after that, police responded to a head-on crash at mile marker 52 on Interstate 5. The Mercedes from earlier had crashed into a northbound 2004 Toyota Camry, and that vehicle’s driver (a 61-year-old woman from Merlin) was seriously injured and later hospitalized.
Police said they believe someone in the Mercedes fled into a nearby wooded area after the crash. Another man who was in the Mercedes (identified as Jacob R Strock, 25) tried and failed to force his way into a nearby vehicle before authorities said they found him. He was also hospitalized with serious injuries.
Multiple law enforcement agencies tried to find the individual from the Mercedes that fled into the woods, but they were unsuccessful. No description of that individual was immediately available.
Police are still trying to figure out if Strock was a passenger or the driver of the Mercedes. The female that fled has been contacted by authorities, and her name will be released in the future.
Anyone with information on the crash is encouraged to contact Oregon State Police at 541.776.6111.