Motorcyclist injured in Hazelwood, after ramming van

INCLUDES CRASH INVESTIGATION VIDEO | This outer East Portland smashup also snarled afternoon traffic on Monday as Portland Police investigated the crash …

In the Hazelwood neighborhood, a collision between a motorcycle, and the back of a minivan, left this bike wrecked in the street, and the rider in the hospital.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton

After a motorcycle smashed into the back of a Nissan Quest minivan on Monday afternoon, July 15, Portland Police Bureau (PPB) officers and Traffic Division investigator were dispatched at 6:31 p.m. to NE 122nd Avenue, just north of Glisan Street.

Watch, as the first officer at the scene takes a look at the smashed motorcycle:

Interestingly, the smashup was first spotted by PPB Air 1, the bureau’s aerial patrol airplane.

Along NE 122nd Avenue, traffic backs up as the northbound lanes are closed during the traffic investigation.

Portland Fire & Rescue Mill Park Station No. 7’s Engine Company, and an ambulance, were also dispatched at the same time as the officers. The rider was taken away by ambulance within minutes of the crew’s arrival.

“I was waiting for a bus, and ‘wham!’ – I heard a crash and a thud,” witness Sam Carvey told East Portland News. “The guy on the bike looked to be in really bad shape,” he added.

One of the first-arriving officers looks at the crashed motorcycle.

In the northbound lanes of NE 122nd Avenue, too badly damaged to recognize the manufacturer, the motorcycle was down on the pavement, facing southbound.

“This was a crash involving a motorcycle and a vehicle,” is what PPB Public Information Manager Mike Benner later told East Portland News.

The driver of the minivan waits, parked in the Menlo Park Shopping Center while the investigation is underway.

“The motorcyclist was transported to the hospital with serious, but non life threatening injuries,” Benner added. He didn’t respond to our query whether or not a citation was issued to either driver.

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