The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WAITSBURG - Steven Long, a Waitsburg resident who lost his home to a fire late last year, was arrested in the aftermath of a motorcycle accident in east Waitsburg on Saturday afternoon.

A Walla Walla County Sheriff's Office report indicates he was taken into custody on suspicion of riding a motorcycle while under the influence, of riding with a suspended license and of possession of marijuana.

Quoting eye witnesses, Sheriff's deputies said Long was riding his off-road motorcycle eastbound on E. 8th Street from Walnut Street when he accelerated to about 50 miles per hour and 'popped a wheelie" in the opposite lane of travel while passing a vehicle going in the same direction.

" Witnesses state Mr. Long lost control of the motorcycle as it landed first on its tail and then slid and rolled," according to the report. "Witnesses went to check on him and after a couple of minutes, Mr. Long got up and tried to run from the scene."

A Sheriff's deputy arrived and arrested him shortly after. He was taken to St. Mary's Hospital in Walla Walla with "road rash" on his legs and backside, and a laceration under his chin.

According to the report, Long said he had been drinking prior to the collision and said he had made about three trips from the cemetery to Walnut Street on E. 8th.

He told the reporting deputy he had made a "wheelie" but "goosed it too much" causing the motorcycle to over backwards. The report indicates Long admitted to smoking marijuana after taking his prescription medication and that the estimated 40 grams of marijuana were his .

When asked, Long said he had not been with anyone else, "nor was anyone chasing him," according to the report.

The reporting deputy desribed Long as being "copperative throoughout the contact."

Long, who is in his early 20s, lost his home on Hogeye Hollow Road in a fire on Christmas Eve 2010.