Deputies say a passenger stabbed a husband after a Jeep hit the man’s pregnant wife, who was carrying the couple’s toddler.

ROCKAWAY BEACH, Ore. — A walk near the Rockaway Beach Wayside turned violent Sunday afternoon when a silver Jeep Patriot struck a pregnant woman carrying her 2-year-old son, and a passenger then stabbed her husband after he confronted the driver, authorities said.

What began as a reported vehicle-versus-pedestrian crash quickly became an assault case, with one man booked into the Tillamook County Jail and the case sent to prosecutors for review. The woman, the child and the stabbed husband are all expected to recover, but the episode jolted a busy Oregon coast parking area and added a criminal case to what first appeared to be a collision.

Deputies were called at about 1:11 p.m. Sunday to the Rockaway Beach Wayside, a public area near the beach in the small north coast town. According to the Tillamook County Sheriff’s Office, the family was walking in the parking area when the Jeep hit the pregnant woman as she carried the boy. The vehicle stopped, and the woman’s husband moved toward the driver to confront her about the crash. At that point, investigators said, a male passenger got out and stabbed him in the back with a weapon. Sheriff Josh Brown later said the episode “escalated quickly,” a line that matched the short span in which the crash, stabbing and escape attempt unfolded.

Investigators identified the passenger as 25-year-old Izac Rutledge. Authorities said that after the stabbing, he climbed back into the Jeep and the vehicle left the area. The drive did not last long. Deputies said the Jeep went only a few blocks before stopping, and the woman who had been driving returned to the scene on foot and cooperated with investigators. Rutledge, deputies said, ran from the area instead. During the search, officers learned he had tried to avoid detection by changing clothes. Deputies found him a short time later and arrested him without further incident. Officials have not publicly described the weapon beyond saying the husband suffered a stab wound to the back, and they have not released the names of the injured family members or the female driver.

The injuries, while serious enough to send the husband to a hospital, were not expected to be life-threatening. The sheriff’s office said the pregnant woman and her young son both suffered injuries in the crash but were expected to be OK. The husband was taken to a local hospital for treatment and also was expected to recover. Brown said the case could have ended far worse and praised both deputies and bystanders who helped provide information. That public help appears to have mattered in the early minutes after the Jeep left, because the scene had shifted from a traffic incident to a violent felony investigation with a fleeing suspect. No details have been released about whether the family was visiting the coast or lives nearby, and authorities have not said whether any surveillance video captured the parking lot.

Rutledge was booked on charges that authorities listed as first-degree assault, menacing, unlawful use of a weapon and disorderly conduct. Jail records later reflected aggravated assault-related counts and showed bail set at $50,000. Local television coverage said the case was forwarded to the Tillamook County District Attorney’s Office for consideration, and Law&Crime reported Rutledge was scheduled for an April 3 arraignment. Oregon court officials note that calendars and basic case information can change, and no public court filing included in the reporting available Monday offered a fuller narrative than the sheriff’s release. What remains unresolved includes whether additional charges could be sought against anyone else in the Jeep and what investigators conclude about the driving before impact.

The setting sharpened the shock of the case. Rockaway Beach is better known for families, beach access and weekend traffic than for midafternoon violence. In the sheriff’s telling, citizens who were there stepped in not by intervening physically but by giving deputies information that helped them sort out a chaotic scene. Brown said he was thankful for that assistance as deputies moved from the injured victims to the returning driver and then to the search for the suspect on foot. Those details left a picture of a case that changed shape again and again within minutes: first a collision, then an argument, then a stabbing, then a short-lived getaway and a quick arrest in a public coastal town.

As of the latest public reporting, Rutledge remained tied to the assault case, the injured family members were expected to recover and prosecutors were reviewing the file. The next public milestone was the arraignment date reported for April 3.

Author note: Last updated April 16, 2026.