Single-vehicle wreck kills man and injures woman, arrested in Powellhurst-Gilbert

UPDATED Officials are saying little about this deadly outer East Portland crash – which took place at the exact same location as a 2015 single-car wreck …

Officers gather along SE Holgate Boulevard in a spot where, once again, a car veered off the road and crashed.

By David F. Ashton

At first, it was reported that a female passenger died, and another was seriously injured in a single-vehicle crash in the Powellhurst-Gilbert on Wednesday evening, October 18.

UPDATED: The Portland Police Bureau revealed on November 16 that the person who died in the crash was male – not female – and the female driver had been arrested and booked in connection with the crash.

Some neighbors muttered that the 13500 block of SE Holgate Boulevard must be jinxed because of the number of single-vehicle crashes happening there.

But it’s a place most likely not hexed or cursed – such accidents occur when speeding, and perhaps impaired, drivers come upon the sharp “S” curve when eastbound on SE Holgate Boulevard on that block.

For example: On February 20, 2015, East Portland News covered a similar crack-up at this same spot. (CLICK HERE to see that article.) At that wreck officers concluded that the driver of that white Ford Focus SE which flew off the road was probably speeding.

So, once again, Portland Police Bureau East Precinct and Traffic Division officers found themselves arriving at another single-car crash at the same location, on Wednesday at 10:50 p.m.

This car is so badly mangled, it’s difficult to determine its make and model.

When they arrived, the officers found two people in a crashed vehicle, a male and female. Within moments, emergency medical responders arrived and determined that one occupant had died at the scene. The other victim in the wreck was taken to a local hospital with serious injuries; that woman’s prognosis is unknown.

On November 16, officials revealed that it was 27-year-old Jose Luis Garcia-Macedo who died in the crash.

And, at the same time, officials said that the vehicle’s driver, 33-year-old Patricia Reyes-Castro, was arrested on a warrant stemming from the crash investigation and Grand Jury indictment. Reyes-Castro was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center on November 16 at 1:00 p.m. on charges of Manslaughter in the Second Degree, Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants, and Reckless Driving.

If you have information about the latest crash there, and have not yet spoken to police, please e-mail crimetips@police.portlandoregon.gov – to the attention of the Traffic Investigations Unit — and tell them it’s about Case No. 23-273601.

This crash represents another setback to the goals of the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s Vision Zero program; it was the 51st traffic-related fatality this year in Portland.

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