VIDEO INCLUDED | A suspect accused of hitting a bike rider and dragging the bike and rider in outer East Portland, was in and out of jail in only a day. Here’s what’s known …
In the Hazelwood neighborhood, NE Glisan Street is closed from 99th and 102nd Avenue while the police investigate a fatal truck vs. bicycle accident.
Story and photos by David F. Ashton
After reports of a fatal hit-and-run pedestrian accident in the Hazelwood neighborhood on June 7, Portland Police Bureau (PPB) East Precinct officers arrived at 1:33 p.m. at the intersection of NE 100th Avenue and Glisan Street.
At first, officers found who they believed to be a pedestrian who had been struck and killed. But witnesses reported seeing the suspect vehicle, a truck pulling a flatbed trailer, leave the scene headed north on 100th Avenue.
Seen between two PPB cruisers, the bureau’s Major Crash Team van is stopped in the street.
Throughout the afternoon, NE Glisan Street was closed from 99th and 102nd Avenue while the PPB’s Major Crash Team investigated.
After what a PPB spokesperson characterized as “an exhaustive investigation, that included on-scene assistance from the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office”, it was determined the driver of a truck had hit and killed a man riding an E-bike, then fled the area.
Watch, as investigators unravel what happened in the fatal collision:
North Precinct officers came across the involved truck an hour later near the intersection of NE Killingsworth and Columbia Boulevard, and seized the vehicle as evidence.
Its driver, identified as 41-year-old Kenlly Leyvachi, was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center (MCDC) the same day at 8:47 p.m., charged with Manslaughter in the First Degree, Reckless Driving, and Failure to Perform the Duties of a Driver. Some reports indicate that judge approved bail at $272,500; yet MCDC booking records show the combined bail for the fatal offences to only be $3,000.
Members of the PPB Major Crash Team, Forensics Division, and a Multnomah County Medical Examiner are all at the crash scene collecting evidence.
Court documents say investigators suspect the collision actually took place at the intersection of NE 102nd Avenue and Glisan Street – and that the slain victim was dragged two blocks west on Glisan Street before he fell free from the truck near the corner of NE 100th Avenue. However, the bike, and attached “doggie trailer”, continued to dragged along and later located a long block north, at the corner of NE Irving Street. Reportedly, the dog in the bike trailer survived.
Leyvachi was released the following day, June 8. Release Reason: Made Bail.
If you have information about this incident and has not already spoken to police, contact crimetips@portlandoregon.gov and reference Case No. 22-152008.
Into the afternoon, this investigation continues.
This is the 30th traffic fatality for 2022.
© 2022 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™
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