“All agreed that the car was going very fast in reverse and one person said he had heard loud words exchanged.”
We reported this weekend on an incident in which Wayne Conrad Thompson was arrested after he collided, in his car, with a man on a bike.
Thompson was charged with first-degree assault, a felony, a charge that is used when someone is suspected of having intentionally harmed another person with a deadly or dangerous weapon.
The Oregonian has obtained a court document and is now reporting more details on the incident. It occurred in a parking lot, they report, near NE 122nd and Glisan. Witnesses apparently heard shouting and then saw Thompson back his car “as fast as it possibly could go” into 52 year old Portland resident Michael Luther, who was riding a bicycle at the time.
The Oregonian’s sources say that intoxicants are not suspected to have played a part in the incident, but that avenue is being explored; they also say that Thompson looked “agitated” and was looking over his shoulder while backing up.
A commenter on our story who was at the scene but did not witness the crash reports that Thompson’s SUV had
“…gone over one island clear across to the next island and stopped. At least one back tire was flat so that would have made it difficult to flee. Also, there were several people that witnessed the situation including the waitress who got the license number just in case. All agreed that the car was going very fast in reverse and one person said he had heard loud words exchanged. The cyclist had been knocked out of his shoes and his helmet was a few feet from his head.”
According to the Oregonian story, Luther has been upgraded from fair condition at Legacy Emanuel. His sister has contacted us asking to be put in touch with any witnesses.
The case is currently being investigated by the Multnomah County District Attorney’s office. We’ll have more once they are able to release details of their investigation.
Update: KGW reports that Thompson’s case is headed to a grand jury, and that the case is being handled by homicide detectives rather than the traffic division.