(Photos: PPB)
Portland Police are offering a $1,000 reward to help them find a pickup truck that was involved in a fatal hit-and-run on Saturday night.
The driver of the truck struck 26-year old Jason Grant from Vancouver as he attempted to walk across SE Foster Road near 70th (he wasn’t in a marked crosswalk). Grant died of his injuries in the hospital later that evening. The driver of a green pickup was eastbound on Foster and fled the scene after the collision.
Now the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) are asking people who bike around the city to help them find the suspect vehicle.
The collision took place just before 7:00 pm on Saturday. Based on witnesses and evidence, investigators are looking for a dark green, 1997-2000 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck with front end damage (see photo).
PPB Sgt. Todd Davis got in touch with us this morning. “If it’s parked somewhere,” he said, “a bicyclist might be more apt to see it than someone driving by in a car.”
If you have seen this vehicle, leave a tip online at CrimeStoppersofOregon.com, text CRIMES (274637) and in the subject line put 823HELP, followed by your tip, or call 503-823-HELP (4357) and leave your tip information. Anyone with information about the collision is urged to contact PPB Officer Erik Koppang via email, Erik.Koppang@PortlandOregon.gov.
UPDATE, 7:00pm on 2/2: Good news. Thanks to widespread coverage, the police have made an arrest in the case. 58 year old Jim Patterson was booked in jail today on two counts of felony hit and run. Because there was a death, those are Class B felonies. Here’s the official PPB statement:
On Thursday, February 2, 2012 53-year-old Jim Dean Patterson contacted an East Precinct officer at the Eastport Plaza Police contact office. Patterson turned himself in as the driver that committed the crime of Hit and Run of the pedestrian at Southeast 70th and Foster.
The officer called for Traffic Investigators, and they responded to Eastport Plaza. Coincidentally, investigators were on their way to Patterson’s home as they were following up on a Crimestoppers tip.
Patterson was arrested by Traffic Division investigators and he was lodged at Multnomah County Detention Center on two counts of Aggravated Vehicle Homicide. He is being held on 500,000 bail. A green 2000 Toyota Tacoma pickup has been recovered from Patterson‚s garage. The truck had damage consistent with this collision.
The Portland Police Bureau Traffic Division extends its thanks to the media for the extensive coverage on this incident and thanks the public for all the tips that were called in. Ultimately Patterson saw the coverage on TV which factored into his turning himself in.
Thanks for reading.
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Are auto repair shops encourages to report suspicious damage if someone were to come in with a truck and “front end damage”?
Is it possible to tell car on car, or car on object damage apart from car on human? Cars would leave paint on each other (and scrapes etc) when colliding. Humans of course would not.
Very sad. I hope the coward is found.
According to every police TV show ever, yes.
You wrote “(he wasn’t in a marked crosswalk).”
Was he at a legal crosswalk?
My thought exactly. Whether it was a marked crosswalk has nothing to do with it; either he was in a crosswalk or he wasn’t.
The legality can be even more nuanced than that. For example, a pedestrian has right of way if there is not a marked crosswalk to within 150 feet of where they are attempting to cross the roadway. Even if there were unmarked crosswalks nearby, they could still have had the right of way.
Whether he was in a crosswalk shouldn’t matter. The driver hit him and left him on the road, and the poor man died. I hope they find the driver soon.
The Oregonian had this in a tiny column on page A5, Monday. Perhaps if he had walked in front of a bus and it had to stop short, the news could have been on A1.
There are few “marked crosswalks” on Foster. And as the street runs diagonally each block is longer than most blocks. It can be a major detour for a pedestrian to find a real crosswalk or light to cross at. From 70th it is almost a quarter mile in either direction to find a marked crosswalk and get back to your route.
I live down the block from this intersection, there are several crosswalks within a couple of blocks (68th and 74th) and there is a light at 72nd, but Foster is dangerous anytime of day, and at night it is very dark and difficult to see anything making pedestrians and other non-motorized traffic particularly vulnerable. A man was hit and killed at 66th and foster a couple of years ago, and more recently a friend was hit on her bike at the crosswalk at 55th and Foster a few weeks back. This is a real shame and is exactly why I don’t ride on Foster, there are a ton of safer alternative routes in the neighborhood. Hopefully they will find the culprit.
These statements are true. Another factor, and I know you know this but for others, contributing to the danger I’ve witnessed here are the speeds people in cars are determined to drive. If you don’t believe me, drive the speed limit on Foster sometime and watch how fast people come up on you. Getting out of your car after parallel parking on Foster can be harrowing. People treat it like a mini-highway which in many ways it is frankly.
Every intersection, corner to corner is a legal crosswalk, marked or unmarked. Unless you are with in 150 ft of a marked crosswalk. Regardless, someone was killed and someone needs to be held responsible.
I can’t believe that such a major street as Foster gets ignored. There are so many poor people that live in this area that walk, bus, bike for their only way to get around. It needs serious improvements. All the money gets spent on inner Portland and little out there.
Wasn’t it foster where Joey Harrinton was hit while cycling?
They will probably get 200 bioswales before they ever get a decent place to ride or walk even