HILLSBORO, Ore.- On August 2, 2019, a Washington County jury found Jeremiah Andrew Libbee guilty of second-degree assault, two counts of third-degree assault, two counts of failure to perform the duties of a driver to injured persons, fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, reckless driving and driving with a suspended or revoked license. The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Andrew Freeman in Judge Janelle Wipper’s courtroom.

On February 19, 2019, Libbee was driving with a criminally-revoked driver’s license when he was spotted driving approximately 90 miles per hour down Highway 26 in North Plains. A North Plains Police officer turned on his lights and siren and began to pursue Libbee.

Libbee refused to pull over and increased to speeds between 100 and 120 miles per hour on wet roads through highway traffic as he entered Highway 6 towards Tillamook. Law enforcement deployed a spike strip. Libbee’s excessive speed and reckless driving caused the crash and subsequent injury to his passenger when he attempted to avoid the spike strip at an extremely high rate of speed. He then lost control of the vehicle and slammed into a tree before his car entered Gales Creek.

Deputy District Attorney Freeman proved to the jury that Libbee chose to abandon his badly-injured and trapped passenger in the partially submerged vehicle as he freed himself and fled the scene. Emergency first responders then spent more than an hour working to free the woman from the car. She was taken to an area hospital where she was treated for injuries sustained in the crash.

A sentencing hearing for this case will be held on August 13, 2019 at 8:30 a.m. Libbee will remain in custody at the Washington County Jail until that time.