Robert T. Berryhill was arraigned Monday on charges relating to a Sept. 18 hit-and-run case in Eugene. - Contributed Photo

Already serving a sentence for a driving under the influence conviction from July, a former Coos County resident who is the suspect of a deadly hit-and-run in Eugene is now facing felony charges.

Robert T. Berryhill, 39, was arraigned yesterday at the Lane County jail, where he was charged by the Lane County District Attorney’s Office on two counts of felony hit-and-run, as well as driving while suspended.

Berryhill was arrested in North Bend on Saturday after investigators began looking for the man in connection with a Thursday crash that killed one woman and injured another, when the two were rammed by a pickup truck.

Coquille Indian Tribal Police located the suspect vehicle, a 1971 Chevrolet, at the North Bend Safeway parking lot, on Saturday, shortly before an Oregon State Police trooper found Berryhill at Pony Creek and Virginia Avenue. He was lodged on Sunday at the Lane County jail, where he remains on a $320,000 bail.

It’s not the first time he’s seen the inside of a cell after getting behind the wheel.

According to a sentencing report from the DA’s office, Berryhill has been convicted of a number of vehicular crimes, including a DUII and reckless driving on Jan. 5 in Lane County; reckless driving in September 2001 in Eugene; a DUII in Florence in July 1994; and driving while suspended in February 1990 in Coos County.

In Coos County, he also was convicted of second-degree criminal trespassing in July 1992.

Coincidentally, Berryhill began serving a 20-day sentence Sunday at the Lane County jail on a DUII conviction stemming from an September 2006 incident, said staff at the Lane County Custody Referee’s Office. He was convicted in July and completes his sentence on Nov. 7.

Hit-and-run

Melinda Kletzok, a spokeswoman for the Eugene Police Department, said that at approximately 7:43 p.m. on Thursday, Lucy Irene Lahr, 45, and her partner, Susan Dian Wehner, 44, were walking along a marked street crossing at the intersection of Hilyard Street and East 13th Avenue, near the Sacred Heart Medical Center, when they were struck down by the pickup.

Lahr died as a result of her injuries and Wehner was treated at Sacred Heart Medical Center. She was released Monday morning.

Before Monday’s arraignment, Doug Harcleroad, the Lane County DA, said the investigation continues and authorities would like to speak with anyone who had contact with Berryhill 24 to 48 hours before and after the hit-and-run.

“We’d like to know what his status was,” Harcleroad said.

He said this will help investigators determine if the suspect had been inebriated at the time of the crash.

“If we develop additional evidence that supports additional criminal charges, we’ll file them,”Harcleroad added.

He said Berryhill may face up to 28 months in jail if he is convicted of the first count of felony hit-and-run, which resulted in Lahr’s death. 

Anyone with information about the case is urged to contact Officer Michael Klews of the Eugene Police Department at (541) 682-5154, ext. 1193.