Man in tent dies when run down by car at I-205 offramp

Here is what has been uncovered about this tragic and unusual outer East Portland traffic fatality, allegedly caused by an impaired driver …

In an area claimed by both the Powellhurst-Gilbert and Lents neighborhoods, police and medical emergency first-responders find where a car left an I-205 off-ramp and crashed into an occupied tent pitched beside the ramp.

Photos and story by David F. Ashton

Most of the accidents hurting or killing a pedestrian involve being struck by a vehicle while walking across, or near, a street.

In this case, it was a homeless individual, encamped on the northbound Interstate-205 freeway off-ramp along SE Powell Boulevard who was killed – while sleeping in his tent in the wee hours of Sunday Morning, December 5.

The PPB’s Major Crash Team investigates this deadly crash.

Portland Police Bureau (PPB) East Precinct officers dispatched to the incident that morning at 3:22 a.m. first noticed that a Honda sedan had left the roadway, then saw that the car had crashed into a tent pitched beside the off-ramp.

The occupant of the tent, later identified as 27-year-old Terrence Tombe, was dead. “The driver of the vehicle, an adult female, was transported by ambulance to a local hospital with injuries,” a PPB spokesperson reported.

This is the Honda that officials say was being operated by an impaired driver. Courtesy KPTV Fox 12 Portland

Throughout the evening, and after sunrise, members of the PPB’s Major Crash Team was at the scene, investigating this accident.

The vehicle’s driver, 20-year-old April Leigh Johnson, was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center (MCDC) at 8:45 a.m. that morning on charges of Criminally Negligent Homicide, a Class B Felony; and two Misdemeanor charges: Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants, and Reckless Driving.

Although being freed from jail by a judge without posting bail, 20-year-old April Leigh Johnson is required to return to court to face a felony and Misdemeanor charges. MCDC booking photo

At her arraignment later that morning, Johnson learned that she’d face all three charges, and her combined bail was set at $25,000.

However, Johnson was released from custody by a judge on December 7, with no bail required. Release Reason: Pretrial Supervision.

If anyone has information about this incident, please reference Case No. 21-339498 when you email tips to crimetips@portlandoregon.gov; “Attention Traffic Investigations Unit” in the Subject line – or, call 503 823-2103.

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