Two pedestrians killed in separate incidents, in just one night

Here’s what happened on one night in the Argay Terrace and Montavilla neighborhoods – which took the lives of two people on foot, in outer East Portland …

The Portland Police Bureau’s Major Crash Team responds to two deadly crashes in one evening.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton

Two different accidents, in two locations on Thursday evening, April 27, and early Friday morning, April 28. The result: Two pedestrians dead.

It’s clearly a setback in attaining the goals of the Portland Bureau of Transportation Vision Zero program.

April 27
A pedestrian dies in Argay Terrace – struck by a train

The PPB Major Crash Team rolls out NE Sandy Boulevard to investigate an incident in which a person on the rails was struck and killed by a moving train.

The first confrontation between a pedestrian and a vehicle took place at about 7:40 p.m. at the Union Pacific Railroad crossing on NE 138th Avenue, a couple of yards north of Sandy Boulevard.

Although the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) hasn’t confirmed anything about the incident, residents nearby said they heard when the train tried to avoid striking a pedestrian on the tracks, just west of 138th Avenue.

Streets near the Argay Terrace Costco store are blocked off, because a fatal crash investigation is underway.

At the Images Columbia apartment complex across the street, residents told reporters that they’d heard the train horn sounding, and the train’s emergency brakes screeching, and the bang of the railcars slamming into one another, as the engineer tried to make an emergency stop.

NE Sandy Boulevard was closed for hours in both directions, between NE 122nd and 148th Avenues, for the investigation by PPB’s Major Crash Team. No doubt the Union Pacific security officers were involved too.

Did you witness this incident? If so, contact crimetips@police.portlandoregon.gov; Attn: Major Crash Team, and refer to Case No. 23-109342.

April 28
Man in wheelchair dies in Montavilla hit-and-run crash

Officers begin to close off the intersection, after a wheelchair-bound pedestrian is struck by a vehicle which left the scene and has not been located.

Only hours later, PPB East Precinct officers were dispatched at 12:11 a.m.to a hit-and-run crash at the intersection of NE 82nd Avenue of Roses and Glisan Street.

Officers discovered that a man in a wheelchair and been struck while crossing the street, in a hit-and-run. The driver left before police were called, and is still at large..

A Major Crash Team officer sets up the FARO Crash Reconstruction device.

“Both the officers and Portland Fire & Rescue personnel attempted lifesaving measures, but the man died at the scene,” a PPB spokesperson reported.
The PPB Major Crash Team arrived to investigate the crash and to seek clues to the identity of the driver, closing down the intersection for hours in all directions.

If you have information about this crash or the involved driver, please contact crimetips@police.portlandoregon.gov and refer to Case No. 23-109538.

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