‘Hit-and-Run-Away’ driver crashes on S.E. 82nd Avenue

EXCLUSIVE! INCLUDES AFTERMATH VIDEO | With paramedics looking at this overturned, smashed car and walking away in outer East Portland, it looked like the driver was likely deceased. No so, officials say …

Along S. E. 82nd Avenue of Roses at Malden Court, Portland Police Bureau officers, Portland Fire & Rescue firefighters and paramedics stand by a vehicle involved in a single-car smashup – with a missing driver.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton

No one saw the crash take place on Thursday evening, February 5th, but several people in the area said they heard it – metal grinding, crunching, and smashing on S.E. 82nd Avenue of Roses at Malden Court.

What these “ear-witnesses” heard was the sound of a single car smashup that left the vehicle on its top, on the sidewalk. What they didn’t hear was the sound of tires screeching on pavement before the crash.

Two men, looking at the smashed iron fence, said they heard the crash from inside the yard, but didn’t see it take place.

Portland Police Bureau (PPB) officers were dispatched to this “Accident-Injury” incident at 7:23 p.m. – with officers arriving after Portland Fire & Rescue Woodstock Station 25’s Engine Company got there and extinguished a small fire in the overturned vehicle.

An ambulance and paramedics were at the crash scene, as well as many bystanders, looking for the driver in the smashed vehicle. After several minutes, the paramedics slowly left the scene without a patient.

An officer canvasses the area, looking for evidence, after the crash.

Yet, the PPB’s Major Crash Team – usually dispatched to investigate fatal wrecks – hadn’t been activated.

Observers at the scene pointed out that there were no skid-marks, and no other vehicles apparently involved in the crash. They wondered how the vehicle came to rest on its roof, facing away from the street, with the driver’s side door wedged against a wooden utility pole.

There wasn’t much to see, but here’s a look at the aftermath of this crash:

It’s not known if the car had been stolen, but it looked to have been poorly painted using shake-and-spray cans. And, all of the tires on the vehicle were “emergency spare tires”, not regular tires.

This ambulance leaves the scene, without a patient onboard.

“When officers arrived at the scene, they found a vehicle on its roof,” confirmed PPB Public Information Manager Mike Benner to East Portland News the next morning.

“It appears that after the crash, the driver fled on foot,” Benner continued. “Fortunately, although people were nearby, inside an iron fence that was damaged, no injuries reported to any individuals not in the car.”

The driver’s side door is wedged closed by a wooden utility pole.

Apparently, this was a “Hit-and-limp-away” crash.

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