[ad_1]
One person has died and five others have been taken to hospitals after a car driven on the streets and sidewalks struck several people in Portland, Oregon on Monday, authorities said.
The alleged driver of the silver Honda Element fled the scene on foot and was apprehended by police after being “cornered” by people in the community, a spokesperson for the Portland Police Department said. The crime scene spans dozens of blocks, police said.
“We have information that he was on the streets and on the sidewalks – but it’s very preliminary at the moment for me to go further into what he was doing, what his intentions were.” police spokesman Constable Derek Carmon told reporters.
One of the six people struck was seriously injured and that person later died, Portland Fire & Rescue said. The deceased was described as an adult. The other five were to recover, a fire lieutenant said at the scene.
The name of the alleged driver was not immediately disclosed. Police said he was being processed and information about the arrest would be released later.
Police received calls about a hit and run near Southeast 33rd Avenue and Southeast Pine Street, near Laurelhurst Park, around 1 p.m. and then received calls from more people stricken, Carmon said.
The driver struck other pedestrians and cars before crashing near Southeast Stark Street and Southeast 18th Avenue, said police, who are about a mile away.
Whether the spate of pedestrian accidents and strikes were intentional – and if so, what was the motive – is still under investigation, Carmon said.
When the fire teams arrived, they were greeted by people indicating the whereabouts of the other injured, Lt. Rich Chatman of Portland Fire & Rescue said.
“As you can imagine, there was a lot of chaos,” Chatman said.
A man who helped a woman who was hit told the NBC KGW affiliate that the woman told him the driver hit her once, then came back and hit her a second time.
“It was the first time that I thought it was an intentional thing,” said the man.
After the person who was arrested later fled on foot, people in the community kept him in place and called the police, Carmon said.
“A group of community members on the street here saw him running away from the crash site and just caged him and informed the officers where he was – sort of. kept him in place until officers could take him into custody, ”he said. . “So we are very grateful to them.”
Police said they planned to release more information about what happened as it became available. They also encourage anyone who sees wreckage from cars or bikes, or has a video, to call the police.
“The crime scene is very large,” Carmon said.
[ad_2]
Source link