Deputies say excessive speed played a role in an accident in northeast Bend Saturday evening that sent a 49-year old La Pine man to the hospital with serious injuries after he failed to stop at a stop sign, lost control, and was ejected from his Harley Davidson motorcycle when it rolled.
 
According to a news release prepared by Deschutes County Sheriff’s deputies Sgt. Dan Swearingen and Vander Kamp, Steven Frank Viola crashed his 2007 black Harley Davidson FLX motorcycle near the intersection of Gibson Air Road and Nelson Road about 8:45 p.m.

The investigation determined that Viola was riding south on Gibson Air Road near the Bend Municipal Airport when he failed to stop at the traffic sign at Nelson Road, crossed the intersection, left the road, traveled 70 feet and lost control.  The motorcycle rolled, and Viola was ejected.

Deputies and Bend Fire personnel responded to the scene and located the cycle and rider about 160 feet south of the intersection in a dirt and shrub field. Viola was stabilized at the scene and transported by ambulance to St. Charles Medical Center with reportedly serious injuries and a leg injury, Swearingen and Vander Kamp said.