Cyclist struck, killed, in Hazelwood along MAX line

UPDATED: Here’s what officials are saying about this outer East Portland “SUV vs. bike” head-on crash, on a rainy evening …

In the Hazelwood neighborhood, the intersection of East Burnside Street and SE 122nd Avenue is closed after a Chevrolet Suburban SUV reportedly ran into a bicyclist, killing its rider.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton

A mangled bicycle was wedged under a 2003 Chevrolet Suburban SUV; the vehicle had front-end and windshield damage. The bike rider was deceased. But official word of how this fatal accident took place, on East Burnside Street, just east of SE 122nd Avenue, has not yet been revealed.

Portland Police Bureau (PPB) East Precinct officers were dispatched to the scene at 8:09 p.m., and those first-arriving blocked off the intersection. Eventually, 14 officers assembled at the crash scene.

An officer examines a bicycle, still wedged under this SUV.

“I didn’t see it, because I was looking the other way for my train – here at this station [west of the intersection], but I heard a crash of some kind; then it was all quiet,” Sam Hernandez told East Portland News. “All I could see was a couple of trucks stopped, next to the east-side MAX platform; then, all kinds of cop cars came here.”

An investigator driving the PPB Major Crash Team van arrives at the scene.

“The PPB Major Crash Team arrived to assist in a traffic crash investigation, involving a fatality,” PPB Public Information Officer Melissa Newhard reported in an 8:45 p.m. news release that evening.

PPB Traffic Division officers begin using their survey equipment to document the fatal crash.

Officers with the PPB Traffic Division set up their FARO Technologies crash reconstruction surveying equipment, while other investigators photographed the accident scene on East Burnside Street, alongside the TriMet MAX Blue Line Light Rail station.

“Unofficially, it looks like the Chevy SUV hit a bicyclist somewhere in the intersection, and that the bike rider has died,” an officer told East Portland News.

Into the evening, the fatal crash investigation continues.

UPDATE:
Investigators confirmed that the Chevy Suburban was going eastbound on East Burnside Street, while the bicyclist was riding westbound, against traffic, the single eastbound travel lane.

“They crashed head-on; investigators believe that poor visibility was a factor in the crash,” later reported Public Information Officer Derek Carmon.

“The deceased was identified as 28-year-old Antonio Sage Rodriguez, of Portland,” Carmon said. “No arrests or citations have been issued, although the investigation is continuing,” he added.

If anyone has information about this crash, please contact Officer Chris Johnson at 503-823-2213 or Chris.Johnson@portlandoregon.gov.

This is the 44th Major Crash Team activation for 2020, and the 47th fatality investigated in the City of Portland.

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