Driver of speeding truck dies in violent crash on NE Airport Way

UPDATED > INCLUDES AFTERMATH VIDEO | See what’s been learned about an outer East Portland fatal rollover crash in the Argay Terrace Neighborhood …

Portland Police Bureau Traffic Division Major Crash Team make their way to the Argay Terrace neighborhood to investigate a fatal crash.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton

For reasons yet unknown, on the evening of November 20, a blue Ford pickup truck sped down NE Airport Way, a block east of 138th Avenue, and launched into through the air – smashing into trees – coming to rest on its side in the parking lot of Columbia Freight Systems, in a commercial complex. The driver did n0ot survive.

See the aftermath of this deadly crash, after a truck left the roadway and smashed into trees:

Portland Police Bureau (PPB) North Precinct officers, who were dispatched to what was described as an “Accident-with-Injury” at 8:17 p.m., as they arrived, didn’t see anything out of the ordinary on the highway at first.

But then, they spotted the mangled truck lying on a landscaped strip between the thoroughfare and an industrial parking lot.

Strapped to a tree to keep it from rolling toward emergency response personnel, the damage to this pickup truck is clear.

The PPB’s Traffic Division Major Crash Team van arrives at the crash.

While medical emergency first-responders were on the way, officers found the driver, who was dead at the scene.
The PPB’s Traffic Division Major Crash Team was dispatched to the scene to investigate the crash.

A Major Crash Team member examines the crumpled truck.

Investigators haven’t provided any information about the crash so far.

But, looking at the scene, it appeared as of the truck was traveling at a rapid pace as it went westbound on NE Airport Way, passing Jerret Street – where the road makes a relatively sharp bend, and constricts from a boulevard with a median to a wide roadway.

The truck left the road at the corner of the industrial complex parking lot driveway, caromed off trees and bushes as it flew through the air, and then came to a complete stop resting in it side.

The top of this truck is smashed beyond recognition.

UPDATE

On November 30, officials revealed that it was 42-year-old Cedric D. Willis, of Vancouver, Washington, who died in this crash.

Preliminary investigation confirmed that the 2018 Ford F-150 pickup on NE Airport Way when he lost control, left the roadway, and his vehicle rolled over. Excessive speed has been determined to be a factor in the crash. The crash remains under investigation.

If you have information about this crash, and have not already spoken to police, e-mail crimetips@police.portlandoregon.gov, attn: Traffic Investigations Unit, and please refer to Case No. 24-298146.

This fatal crash is another incident that hinders the objectives of the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s Vision Zero program.

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