He had power-pole shaped dent in his SUV. Police arrested him for hit-and-run power outage

Kennewick police have arrested the driver they suspect hit a utility pole in Kennewick on Saturday morning, shutting off power to about 825 homes and businesses.

Rory Bryan, 60, is accused of misdemeanor hit and run with property damage and was booked into the Benton County jail, according to police reports and jail records.

Kennewick police said they suspect the cause of the crash was distracted driving.

About 6:30 a.m. Saturday a vehicle sheared through a utility pole at the corner of Washington Street and Second Avenue and then left.

Live electrical wires were left lying on the ground and the pole was held up only by utility wires.

About 2:15 p.m. Sunday police were in the 100 block of East 13th Avenue in Kennewick for a report of a court order violation, when an officer spotted a silver Isuzu Trooper with a power-pole shaped dent in the front end.

Benton PUD crews worked for more than four hours restoring power to homes and businesses, said Jodi Henderson, the utility’s manager of communications and governmental relations.

The outage lasted until 3:30 p.m. for about 40 people.

This story was originally published June 2, 2019 at 6:53 PM.