Street racing leads to fatal smashup in Centennial

An outer East Portland ‘speed contest’ ended in the death of one of the drivers, in an early-morning out-of-control crash …

After speeding away from a police officer eastbound on SE Division Street east for 26 blocks, one of the cars smashes into a pole at SE 148th Avenue, leaving a debris field in the intersection.

By David F. Ashton

In the early hours of Friday, November 7, with chilly winds blowing, the streets of outer East Portland were relatively clear of traffic.

With little else going on, the sight of two vehicles racing along SE Division Street – the dividing line between the Mill Park and Powellhurst-Gilbert neighborhoods – caught the attention to a Portland Police Bureau (PPB) East Precinct officer at 2:57 a.m.

The officer arrives to find this badly damaged vehicle.

Near SE 119th Avenue and Division Street, the officer flipped on the cruiser’s flashing red and blue emergency lights, and hit the drivers with a spotlight, a clear signal for the drivers to stop.

Instead, the “speed racers” took off, and continued driving recklessly eastbound.

Checking on the smashed car, the officer finds its driver to be dead.

One of the wild drivers managed a getaway.

However, 1.6 miles east of where the pursuit began, the officer spied a black SUV that had smashed, nearly head-on, into a utility pole at SE 148th Avenue and Division Street.

The front driver’s side took the brunt of the impact, and the driver – believed to be the only occupant of the vehicle – had died at the scene.

The Portland Police Traffic Division Major Crash Team arrives to investigate this fatal crash.

The PPB’s Traffic Division Major Crash Team came to investigate, as they do at all fatal crashes. Until daylight, the intersection of SE 148th Avenue and Division Street was closed in all directions, snarling early morning commute traffic.

If you have information about this crash and have not already spoken to police, e-mail it crimetips@police.portlandoregon.gov, Attn: Traffic Investigations Unit and reference Case No. 25-305585.

This was the 35th fatal crash in Portland this year; another hindrance to the intentions of the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s Vision Zero program.

Images via Night Stringers Television News

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