Stolen car pursuit in Centennial ends in fatal Hazelwood crash

UPDATED x2: Here’s why the lights went out, in two outer East Portland neighborhoods, in the wee hours of Tuesday morning

After Gresham Police Department officers try to stop a stolen vehicle – it takes off west on SE Division Street – it ends in a crash in the Hazelwood neighborhood, near SE 159th Avenue. PPB image

Story and photos by David F. Ashton

When the lights blinked out just past midnight on Tuesday, June 25, it wasn’t because of any storm. Electricity was knocked out in parts of the Centennial, Hazelwood, and Powellhurst-Gilbert neighborhoods along SE Division Street due to a fatal vehicle smashup.

Here’s the story: at 12:14 a.m. that morning, Gresham Police Department officers attempted to stop a stolen vehicle in the area of SE 159th Avenue and Division Street in the Centennial neighborhood.

Two of the men in the fleeing vehicle are deceased, one of them taken by ambulance to a local hospital, reportedly in serious condition.

Instead of stopping, the driver hit the gas westbound along SE Division Street. Minutes later, the Gresham officers found the car crashed east of the pedestrian bridge (and the Dairy Queen) near the intersection of SE 136th Avenue – on the Hazelwood (north) side of Division Street.

Portland Police Bureau East Precinct officers, who had responded to assist, found that the fleeing vehicle had crashed into another car and a utility pole, and that was what cut power to area residents on both sides of the street.

The PPB’s Major Crash Team begins to investigate the smashup.

Additionally, officers found two male occupants of the eluding vehicle dead at the scene; another male occupant was seriously injured. The one still alive was rushed to an area hospital with life-threatening injuries.

The adult female driver of the other vehicle suffered minor injuries, and remained at the scene.

After the crash, PPB officers learned that the eluding car had indeed been reported stolen.

Here’s what the crash scene looked like at daybreak. Courtesy KPTV Fox 12 News

Because this was a fatal crash, the PPB’s Traffic Division Major Crash Team took over the crash investigation.

UPDATE

On July 2, the PPB revealed that the two teenagers killed in this crash, in the reportedly stolen car, were identified as 16-year-old Dylan M. Brasky and 16-year-old Jayden M. Rolon-Ekis, both of Portland.

Investigators determined Rolon-Ekis was driving the vehicle at the time of the crash. Brasky was a passenger in the vehicle.

UPDATE No. 2

July 15, the PPB told reporters that was notified of a third death related to this crash: “July 8, 2024, 18-year-old Cole Johnson, died at a local hospital as a result of injuries sustained in a crash.”

If you have information about the incident, please contact crimetips@police.portlandoregon.gov, attention Traffic Investigations Unit, and reference Case No. 24-156826.

The two new traffic fatalities negatively impact the objectives of the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s Vision Zero program; so, please don’t steal cars, elude police and cause smashups!

© 2024 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™

 

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