See why this was a tragic day, with single-vehicle smashups in the Montavilla and Lents neighborhoods …
The first of two outer East Portland motor vehicle accidents, occurring within two hours of one another here along NE Glisan Street, closes down the road for hours, as officials investigate a fatal motorcycle accident.
Story and photos by David F. Ashton
Two crashes, each of them involving a single motorized vehicle, closed outer East Portland streets on Wednesday morning, February 16.
The first of the wrecks ended as a fatality — tallied in the Portland Bureau of Transportation “Vision Zero” log of crash-related deaths as the 12th this year already.
Motorcyclist crashes in Montavilla, dies in hospital
An officer from the PPB Major Crash Team resets the location of their Leica Crash Investigation and Collision Reconstruction unit to document the scene.
9:46 a.m. on February 16, Portland Police Bureau (PPB) East Precinct officers were dispatched to a crash along NE Glisan Street, just east of 87th Avenue.
A neighbor told East Portland News that, although she didn’t actually witness the crash, they believed that a motorcyclist had swerved to miss a pedestrian in a marked crosswalk. Another person, who said he’d heard the crash but didn’t see it either, thought that a hit-and-run driver smacked the motorcyclist, knocking him into the curb.
However, a PPB officer at the perimeter told us that this was a single-vehicle accident.
Observing the crash scene, it was clear that the bike rider was headed downhill, westbound on NE Glisan Street, when something caused him to veer away from the traffic lane into the parking lane, and hit the curb.
“When officers arrived, they found a motorcyclist had crashed,” is all a PPB official would say about the wreck at the scene. “The rider, an adult male, was transported to a local hospital with serious, life threatening injuries.”
Due to the serious nature of the crash, the PPB’s Major Crash Team kept NE Glisan Street remained closed to traffic until about 3 p.m. that afternoon.
More crash investigators arrive to help gather evidence of the smashup, which turned out to be a fatality.
Before the street was reopened that afternoon, a police official revealed that, despite extensive lifesaving efforts by hospital personnel, the rider involved in the crash had died. Later that day he was identified as 43-year-old David N. Wickham.
And, the circumstances of the crash are still under investigation. If you did witness the crash, but have not been interviewed by investigators, please call (503)823-2103 or email crimetips@portlandoregon.gov, Attention: Traffic Investigations Unit. Be sure to reference Case No. 22-43982.
Suspected ‘high’ driver smashes at Lents Park
Along Lents Park, officers look over a Volvo that had driven off the street and crashed.
While ten PPB East Precinct officers were investigating that wreck in Montavilla, seven others were dispatched to a different crash at Lents Park at 11:19 a.m.
These officers found a older Volvo V70XC Cross Country smashed head-on into a wooden utility pole.
It’s clear that the sturdy Volvo protected the driver to an extent, after crashing into this utility pole.
“I was heading out to walk my dog, and I saw this hatchback zipping [southbound] along SE 92nd Avenue,” Jodie Hanson told East Portland News. “Starting at about SE Schiller Street, car just drifted off the road, jumped the curb, and smashed into a wooden utility pole,” he described, observing that the crash was near SE Liebe Street.
“I didn’t see anyone moving, but the car was filled full of stuff; I just called 9-1-1 – and the cops, a fire truck, and an ambulance were here right away.”
Inside the ambulance, paramedics tend to the driver who sustained undisclosed injuries.
Portland Fire & Rescue Lents Station’s Engine 11 crew didn’t stay long; but the paramedics on the crew helped the driver into the ambulance.
A PPB officer confirmed that this was a single-vehicle crash, no other vehicles involved. “Preliminary investigation indicates that the driver may have been ‘high,’ or was impaired in some way, at the time of the crash,” he said.
While the driver is being treated, officers continue an investigation into the crash.
Should you be able to provide information about this crash, email crimetips@portlandoregon.gov, Attention: Traffic Investigations Unit and reference Case No. 22-44074.
© 2022 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™
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