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A driver hit and injured at least six people in a 20-block stretch of southeast Portland before crashing and fleeing Monday afternoon, witnesses said.
According to Portland Fire and Rescue, a pedestrian was hit and seriously injured in a “major traffic incident” on Southeast Stark Street and 19th Avenue in the Buckman neighborhood. A spokesperson for the fire department said five other people were in non-critical condition.
Portland police officer Derek Carmon told a news conference officers responded after someone reported a hit and run near Laurelhurst Park shortly after 1 p.m. He said upon arrival , they had started receiving further calls regarding the same suspicious vehicle, a silver Honda Element. , hitting other cars and pedestrians.
Carmon said the crime scene spanned from Laurelhurst Park on 33rd Avenue to 18th Avenue and Stark Street, and asked anyone who sees debris or has video along that stretch to contact police.
He said the suspect, whom he did not want to identify immediately, crashed the car and ran, and was stopped by several members of the community who saw him trying to flee the scene. He said passers-by detained the suspect until police arrived.
One victim, a woman in her 60s, was taken to Oregon Health & Science University Hospital and is in critical condition, according to a hospital spokesperson.
According to a witness, Larry Wolfe, the woman had come to meet him for a date at the corner of Washington Street and 19th Avenue, when he saw her get hit by the car and scream. Wolfe said he walked over to her, then saw the car come back and hit her again. The car then turned around and headed down 19th Avenue to Stark Street, Wolfe said.
Several ambulances intervened in the area. A press release from the Portland Police Department confirmed that the vehicle struck pedestrians and cars along a 20-block span, southeast of 33rd Avenue and Southeast of Stark Street to the south. east of 13th ave. They did not confirm the number of people or cars struck, or the type of vehicle the suspect was driving. The police station said there were several crime scenes along this stretch.
Several witnesses said they saw an SUV driving away from the scene.
Brandon Kutzler said he was walking around the Buckman neighborhood when he came across police arresting a man on 17th Avenue between Stark and Washington streets. Kutzler took photos of a man handcuffed to the ground.
Cody Warnes, an employee of a nearby business, said he saw a heavily dented silver Honda Element drive eastbound on Belmont Street. The car turned left in oncoming traffic on 30th Avenue toward Stark Street, then struck a cyclist on the corner.
On 19th Avenue, Sarah Mirk said she saw the grass torn with tire marks, as a car swerved all over the block. There appears to be a person lying in the road who was then taken away by police and paramedics.
Daveed Jacobo said he arrived at Laurelhurst Park around 1 p.m. when he saw the Honda Element coming down the hill on SE 33 Avenue. He took a right turn onto Pine Street, accelerating and hitting a woman crossing the street. He said the license plate had taken off from the car, allowing him to report the incident. Rescuers quickly arrived to transport the woman to the hospital.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Beth Nakamura, Jayati Ramakrishnan, Michael Russell, Ted Sickinger, and Fedor Zarkhin of The Oregonian / OregonLive contributed to this report.
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