Portland police have arrested a Lake Oswego woman in connection with a major hit-and-run last week on Southwest Barbur Boulevard.
Here’s the news release from the Portland Police Bureau:
29-year-old M. A. Clinton of Lake Oswego turned herself in to officers at Central Precinct this afternoon. She has been booked into jail on two counts of Felony Hit and Run.
The charges come as a result of the hit and run crash on Friday August 16, 2013 at 12:50 a.m., that left the victim, 20-year-old Henry Schmidt, injured on the side of the road on Southwest Barbur Boulevard near the Capitol Highway ramp.
An anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers of Oregon led investigators to the suspect vehicle, a black 2011 Subaru Legacy, at a body shop in Wilsonville, Oregon. Additional investigation identified the driver.
Clinton will be arraigned in Multnomah County Court on Friday.
As we’ve been reporting, a single driver’s actions aren’t the only factor at play on this consistently dangerous stretch of road, and we can only hope that the rest of this evening’s news coverage of the arrest will bear this in mind. In any case, stay tuned.
Update: KGW reports that “Clinton was driving with a suspended license, and according to court documents, she was convicted three times for speeding violations in Oregon.”
Michael Andersen was news editor of BikePortland.org from 2013 to 2016 and still pops up occasionally.
29 year old gal from Lake Oswego…I cannot wait to hear how entitled her excuse is going to be.
Good on ya, anonymous tipster.
Let me guess, you hate stereotypes unless you use them?
Way to use a broad brush to paint every resident of Lake O. Ever actually been there?
She was also driving on a suspended license. I hope the Multnomah County DA finds the largest book possible to throw at her.
http://www.kgw.com/news/Woman-arrested-in-SW-Portland-hit-and-run–220734531.html
I more and more firmly believe that confiscation of cars and PERMANENT license revocation for those caught driving suspended/revoked needs to be the rule. This lady should not ever drive again.
Wish they had done this after that third speeding ticket…. Instead of three strikes and your out, now I’m looking towards four balls and then you walk.
I agree with you, but permanent revocation would likely be ineffective, as those with revoked licenses would just continue to drive. It happens all the time- people whose licenses are suspended, expired, revoked, or just plain non-existent are out there driving right now, even as I type this (for reference: https://www.aaafoundation.org/sites/default/files/2011Unlicensed2Kill.pdf). I don’t know what the answer is, but it’s a problem that doesn’t seem to be going away.
Then you jail em.
If they’ve been to a court proceeding where their privilege to drive was explicitly revoked then they’ve proven themselves to be a clear and present danger to society.
If they then continue to endanger society they need to be locked up.
Period.
She was probably never near a court. 3 speeding tickets within two years in Oregon is an automatic suspension – you just get a letter in the mail saying “Don’t drive between these dates”. Which in no way excuses her acts; if anything maybe it underlines the insufficiency of the current system.
How about instead of an automatic suspension, you get something like the ignition interlock for DUIs? 6 months of a little black box that beeps every time you go over the speed limit (and tracks your location so you can be ID’d immediately in a case like this), and kills your motor if you stay over for more than a few seconds. More than a few shutoffs, and the box’s stay in your car gets extended. Enough extensions and the box and the car go away for good.
Agreed – never near a court, YEARS ago i had WAY TOO MANY speeding tickets in new york state and my license was suspended, I never went to court, never met face to face with anyone, you just get a letter saying you can’t drive. I drove. I got caught again. I got my car towed. I get far fewer speeding tickets now.
That’s why they should make you show up and actually destroy your license!
You’ll also need to include mandatory liability for anyone lending any automobile to such a probationary driver, from friends to rental agencies.
But at some point of repeated violations you will end up with a minority of drivers who can only be convinced not to drive by the application of police firearms. These people need to be locked down somehow, either jail or 24/7/365 house arrest where the only excuse they have for going faster than jogging speed is if their parole officer drives them there.
“You’ll also need to include mandatory liability for anyone lending any automobile to such a probationary driver, from friends to rental agencies.”
It’s called, “you’re liable to lose your vehicle if you lend it to a suspended/revoked driver”. Unless it has been reported stolen, any car found being driven by a suspended driver should be confiscated and sold. Proceeds go to your friendly neighborhood Police Association.
(ignore the duplication of this post below)
buy a used car. ignition lock solved.
Jail is also not a hidrance to most criminal activity. The threat of jail for most crimes isn’t a deterrance.
Education/prevention is the answer. If you want to propel your society, give them the tools to self-protect.
In general I agree.
In the circumstance of a legally competent adult that refuses to accept that what they do is wrong OR someone with a mental defect that makes them incapable of acting within the laws of the state and society a different tack will be required.
For those criminals that cannot be made to be safe in society – society must be made safe by their removal; this means either permanent incarceration or execution.
It is much more humane, and thus cheaper, to educate, correct, monitor and assist those who have committed crimes and wish to be better.
For those individuals that commit blatant, willful and repeated disregard for the life and safety of their fellow citizens Rule of Force will be needed to Enforce Rule of Law.
Simple. Take away whatever car she is driving at the time, combined with a jail sentence. Auction the car(s) and all proceeds go to a ped/cycling improvement fund.
Yeah, but no. Dangerous behavior or not “confiscation” of personal property is completely off the table in my book.
That will just lead to the feeling that anything that someone does not like how you use can be taken away in an official capacity.
100% dislike.
I understand your sentiment, but then you realize that people are “confiscated” in an official capacity when they demonstrate an inability to control themselves. And since jailing people is not off the table, taking people’s things probably isn’t either.
This is why I include confiscation of cars along with permanent revocation. Any time you are caught driving suspended/revoked, whatever car you are driving is sold unless it was reported stolen–then you’ve got bigger problems.
I think just as important as laws that prevent dangerous drivers from getting behind the wheel is to design roads that make dangerous driving more difficult. People behave in the way their environment tells them they should. Too many of our streets are designed in a way that tells people in cars, “Go ahead! Go as fast as you’d like! You are the boss of the road! You are our highest priority and all other users should defer to your power or be punished!” So that’s how we drive.
Advertising also promises the freedom to speed and be aggressive behind the wheel.
Maybe that’s the way you drive, It’s not the way I drive or the way most other people drive, and it’s not the kind of driving that roads and streets are designed and engineered for.
Movement of the greatest possible number of vehicles within limited available space and time and safety considerations are what roads are designed for. The economy has factored into the evolutionary design modernization of roads that exist.
So it is that to move a lot of motor vehicles in a short period of time, roads are configured for high speed motor vehicle travel and assigned speed limits that make them largely incompatible with active transportation modes…and even then, during high traffic volume periods, i.e. commute hours, special events, etc, roads become nearly hopelessly jammed up with bumper to bumper stop and go traffic.
During hours of the day when these modern high speed highways aren’t jammed up with bumper to bumper stop and go traffic, motor vehicle driving rats come out, exploiting the road’s inherent limitations, re-purposing the road as an impromptu speedway-DUI alley.
It doesn’t seem likely that reducing a high speed highway’s number of lanes on a daily basis outside of high volume use hours, would be regarded seriously as an option, but that may be one approach for calming traffic on a road such as Barbur. It’s only during rush hour that the road really needs its four lanes and speed limit of…40-45, I think it is. Outside of rush hour, ‘two lanes, twenty is plenty’, or 25mph would do. I don’t see something like that happening, but to me, it seems a nice thought.
Bob this road is not close to capacity, not even at rush hour.
Dude, perhaps your ego needs a chill pill. Do you drive? Do the roads make you drive in a way that is unsafe? I am sure you drive once in a while so what is your experience driving around portland? Do you ever get called out on your bullshit or do you only post your minions replies.
Thank you, PPD.
Link didn’t work before. Here it is:
https://www.aaafoundation.org/sites/default/files/2011Unlicensed2Kill.pdf
Too bad we’ll never know how drunk or high she may have been, but I’m glad she had enough of a conscience to turn herself in. Not enough to stop and help the young man she almost killed, but I guess we’ll take what we can get.
Well, it seems that she likely turned herself in AFTER she got a call from the cops. Note that they had an anonymous tip that led them to the car which then likely led them to know who the owner was. She shouldn’t be given any credit for doing the right thing.
She likely won’t. Hopefully she’ll be convicted of both felonies. Won’t even be able to travel to Canada (or anywhere else) anymore!
Who knows what evidence she destroyed or metabolized, or what assets she transferred. Jail time and financial ruin are too good for her, but I’d love to serve on either jury!!
I know a body shop in Wilsonville that’s pretty well secluded from passing traffic. I bet it was chosen in the hopes that none of the public would spot her car.
Is it wrong to think that she should be sentenced to biking up and down Barbur from dark to about 3 a.m. for 40 or 50 consecutive weekends?
While I understand your feelings; Cycling should not ever be used as a punishment if it’s something we want people to embrace.
Ha! I like that one, but given her previous citations, she obviously has an inability to drive at or near the speed limit. I’d stick it to her by forcing her to bike back and forth across the Hawthorne Bridge every Saturday from 10 am – 2 pm. The slow inefficiency of that mobile circus will destroy her.
You folks are crazy. Where does the idea of biking-as-punishment come from? The pedagogic value of this kind of a proposal is deeply in the red.
Or perhaps you are being coy and mean this as a covert restorative justice move.
I am guessing this website had a lot to do with the generation of that anonymous tip. Good job guys in getting the word out!
What about the KATU news broadcast that undoubtedly has a much broader audience?
I gotta image that all the local news outlets at least keep an eye on Bikeportland.org but odds are better that anonymous tipster in Lake O saw the TV news story rather than being a lurker here.
I bet they were in Wilsonville, where the body shop was.
I bet they worked in the Wilsonville body shop.
She’s a recent California transplant. Oh noes!
As are a lot of people that ride bikes. What’s your point?
There seem to be some bitter feelings out there. “Financial ruin is too good for her.” I don’t know about that, but she owes her victim a lot of compensation. The little we know suggests that she feels quite entitled to do whatever she wants, regardless of the law and the rights of others. Maybe prosecution will bring her down a notch or two. I hope she doesn’t have a Lake Oswego lawyer who gets her out of any jail time.
Save the disparaging Lake Oswego comments for the next Occupy meeting in whatever garbage can that may be. She lives in that city, but should we burn down Lake Oswego for what this idiot did?
What was the disparaging LO comment?
Please don’t disparage the Occupy movement. Thank you.
No offence, but she hit someone with a car, and left. Most likely didn’t stop, didn’t try to flag someone down to help, didn’t call 911. As far as she knew she killed him.
And as far as I’m concerned it should be on par with negligent homicide or assault with a deadly weapon with (Class B offence – max sentence: 10 years and $250,000). Rather than a Class C which is 5 years $125,000) which hit and run is currently.
Does that really sound like that bad of a sentence for someone that struck someone with a car then left them bleeding by the side of the road to die.
My Nana always said it would take a Philadelphia Lawyer to get you out of really tricky spots.
hmmm ….KGW doesn’t seem to know about KATU’s assistance in this case ??
>>Police were asking for the public’s help in identifying the hit-and run suspect after officers located evidence at the scene that was from a Subaru.
http://www.kgw.com/news/Woman-arrested-in-SW-Portland-hit-and-run–220734531.html
I’m very impressed by Schmidt’s attitude about the driver. I would love to see some sort of restorative, rather than retributive, justice approach in a case like this. There are no winners, but there are always opportunities for healing if both parties are willing. Regardless of what happens, though, I am glad the driver has been identified, and I wish Henry all the best on his road to recovery.
Restorative or ‘productive’ justice is better when you’re dealing with someone who maybe has messed up once or just had an incredibly bad night, but doesn’t have a long history of repeatedly screwing up. At this point, the main objective should be protecting whoever is biking a year from now on Barbur at night when she’s screaming around a corner, probably drunk, probably revoked/suspended, and definitely not concerned with anybody other than herself. This woman has messed up multiple times, in multiple ways, over a long period of time. She clearly doesn’t think the law applies to her and has no qualms about completely forgoing any responsibilities for her actions and the consequences.
I don’t know, she’s burned through all her chances, in my mind.
To me, restorative justice isn’t about how many times someone has harmed others. It’s not about “going soft” on them. What it’s about – if she is open to it, which I acknowledge she may not be – is to let an offender truly understand the harm their actions have caused for others, and giving them a chance to help make amends. This is different from the typical punitive approach of “you’ve hurt someone, so now we (society) will hurt you for punishment.” Clearly she has already experienced that multiple times, and clearly it hasn’t changed her behavior. This is very typical of punitive approaches. Of course the other reason to revoke someone’s license and/or incarcerate them is to remove them from the chance of hurting others, and that’s totally legit. But often people, in their anger about the injustice of this sort of case, tend to conflate the two, and I don’t think that serves victim, offender, nor public safety as effectively as an approach that sees an offender as human and able to see the harm they have caused, and gives them a chance to make genuine amends, be they physical, emotional, and/or financial. I’m just saying I admire Henry Schmidt for his apparent openness to that sort of approach, and I am curious and hopeful about what possibilities may grow out of it… at the same time as we also address things such as road design.
The harsh penalty is to prevent further destruction by her, and hopefully by others who see the penalty handed down.
The first part may be true, the second part though history has shown punitive punishments as a deterrents never works, the only solution is to FIX THE ROAD.
As the mother of a deceased hit-and-run victim, I don’t regret my actions for “restorative justice” for the young man responsible, but also don’t regret that he is spending time in prison. He’d had opportunities to learn just like this young woman, and didn’t either. I’m still afraid he won’t, but I know I tried, I’ve done what I can… for justice for my son, for a chance for this man to live a better life, and for the safety of others on the road once he is released. And for my own peace of mind. RIP Dustin Finney.
A permanent ban on motor vehicle use would be restorative (in more ways than one).
How was the ride for Schmidt yesterday?
9 traffic violations in just under 4 years, license suspended more than once and still behind the wheel, sounds like someone who cares only about themselves and could care less who they hurt. Sure, she was hit-n-run last year in her car so she probably feels entitled to this hit-n-run as payback for what happened to her. Her pitiful ‘woe is me’ face makes me dislike her even more. She needs to be unable to drive for years and then forced to ride that stretch of road daily to understand what it feels like to be buzzed 50 times in a short stretch of road. What she did is ridiculous and hope the DA doesn’t bend over and take one for the team by giving her any kind of plea deal. She hit-n-run and then had the balls to try and repair the car out of town. If it wasn’t for the mechanic being an honest guy she would’ve gotten away with it.
Beyond that, I want to know who the mechanic is so I can take my car to him for some engine work as a thank you.
“sounds like someone who cares only about themselves and could care less who they hurt.”
A whole lot of speculation about her state of mind & attitude here. Not terribly useful, really. Doing despicable things with one’s car is bad enough without piling on imagined character flaws.
I think it is excellent that the ‘public’ part of our system of justice worked so well and so elegantly and so quickly.
I think we can make some fair inferences about someone’s concern for others when they have a driving record like that.
I think this is a slippery slope/relative/pointless.
Given the statistics (most crashes involving cars are not due to inattention) that *driving* itself represents a low level of concern for others. I’m not advocating we judge others this way, but it would be hard to argue that One Less 🙁‘s logic doesn’t lead down this road.
I fully agree with your take on what appears to be this woman’s attitude but not with your, umm, descriptive comment about a plea deal. The public will never know all the details leading up to a plea and even two years after my son’s death in a similar situation as this, I’m not willing to share every reason why I accepted the plea in our case. Especially in hit-and-run cases, the burden of proof is heavy. Sometimes we take the lesser result as opposed to risking it all. I will just say that there are many reasons DAs offer plea deals and even more reasons why victims take them.
She took her car to get it repaired by a mechanic she knew and trusted. Her head was fully on her shoulders and she wouldn’t have turned herself in unless she was compelled to. Throw the book at her.
Also, the police’s failure to collect the evidence at the scene was untimely and can’t be explained by ‘budget cuts’ (as we see in the KATU footage).
Until we are a public body who empathizes first as a someone who rides bikes rather than as someone who drives cars, this is the status quo. Thanks to Jonathan and KATU staff for this coverage – the ‘story’ wouldn’t be what it is without you.
Driving on a suspended license probably means the ins. co. isn’t going to pay anything, that is if she did have ins.. If she does it is probably just the minimum which won’t be enough to pay very much of the hospital bills. If she owns property they may have to go after that.
One wonders if she’d been a Latino at 102nd, if we’d hear anti Latino comments. Or an African American from around Roosevelt, if we’d hear anti Black comments. Or …
Folks. Her history of traffic violations is all that matters here. Not her age, not her race, and not the address on her license.
i-5 is packed and practically stopped dead during rush hour and buses are standing room only. We should have more frequent bus service during rush hour and maybe provide parking near bus stops out of town to encourage more people to ride. We need a safe bike lane to ride downtown. There is the Terwilliger trail but not everyone can do those elevations.
I live near the intersection of Barbur and Terwilliger and we lost two telephone poles within less than a year to speeding cars, one of those resulting in the death of the driver and both drivers managed to somehow achieve the speed to do that in the one block between traffic lights heading toward town. A young woman coming south on Barbur from the direction of downtown somehow jumped the divider, drove through a fence and hit a house, killing herself. Her family still leaves memorials of flowers and notes at the site of her death and I see them every day. A young motorcyclist doing 100 mph killed himself and his girlfriend when he hit a cement pylon up Barbur from my house and people still leave flowers at the site of their deaths.
I’ve called and sent emails to the city and to ODOT to complain about the intersection by my house, where no one stops for the stop sign as they go onto Barbur and many cars do a quick u-turn in the intersection or speed through the side streets, because I’m afraid to let my kids walk the two blocks to the bus after watching them almost get mowed down by commuters a few times but the response was that no changes were needed. I don’t let them walk to school because we have to cross Terwilliger at Chestnut and no driver seems to do less than 10 miles over the posted 25mph speed limit and no driver has ever stopped there for a pedestrian in my memory. I’ve sent emails asking for a stoplight or even just a sign at that intersection but those were not answered. I fill out the Safe Routes survey every year, describing in detail why I won’t let my kids walk or bike to school and there is never any comment back. I refuse to let my children ride their bikes on Barbur and I don’t ride because it’s too dangerous; the bike lane is too narrow, people drive too quickly, too crazily and too irresponsibly and I’m afraid to be hit.
And let’s not forget Angela Burke, struck and killed by a speeding drunk three years ago on Barbur while walking her bike.
“i-5 is packed and practically stopped dead during rush hour and buses are standing room only. We should have more frequent bus service during rush hour and maybe provide parking near bus stops out of town to encourage more people to ride. ”
No one’s mentioned the glaring absence of an HOV/bus lane on I-5. That would seem to me to be more important/cheaper/quicker than expanding bus service in that corridor. I basically never drive on I-5, though I do sit on the 96 bus from time to time, and rush hour, as you say, is nuts. Why don’t we have an HOV/bus lane on I-5??? Anyone?
Federal law prohibits reduction of existing capacity to provide HOV lanes. The lanes we have were originally created by repurposing shoulders, making the roadway functionally obsolete (remember that term). If you travel north much, you’ll notice that WASHDOT is spending a lot to add HOV lanes from Tacoma to north of Seattle.
The problem is that Barbur was built as a highway, and then made redundant when I-5 was built. Barbur is no longer a highway. It functions to serve businesses, homes, and other local access. It also should provide a safe route for cyclists and pedestrians, who obviously cannot used I-5. Ideally, it would also provide priority for mass transit, which I-5 also fails at. Unfortunately, Barbur is not designed for its current purpose. It functions in a weird limbo state. Some use it to bypass a congested I-5, but they do so at unsafe speeds, because they are not concerned with local access.
I say this as someone that grew up very close to you. I have a lot of experience with Barbur as a cyclist, a pedestrian, and a driver. Barbur, as it is currently designed, is a failure.
Just for the record “highway” is any public road as defined in Oregon (and California too). You might mean a State Highway v. Interstate Highway in this case.
Agreed! Barbur is a “stroad”
http://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2013/3/4/the-stroad.html
Also, since the suspect is a female. My guess she will get 2 years sentence tops.
True justice would be this hit and run driver never getting behind the wheel of an automobile again. Anything else will fall short and be a continuation of the status quo that treats non motorized roadway users as second class citizens. I have a dream that someday drivers will pay attention while operating their vehicles because they know the consequences are serious and long term, just like the physical and emotional damage to vulnerable roadway users hit by moving autos.
Today I go out the door yet again knowing i take my chances on my 5 mile bicycle commute to work. And some people don’t think we should stripe Foster. Sickening.
And we just got a lane reduction and bike lanes on Division, so the world is not a completely horrible place!
Rode that section yesterday. That’s what I call Progress!
me too. It was an incredible improvement!
How did she know the police were on to her? I would hate to think the body shop called her to tip her off, as that would be aiding and abetting… Maybe getting cuffed in front of friends and family would convince her of the seriousness of the crime.
I have a bit of a draconian suggestion regarding getting drunk and suspended drivers off the streets. Do a public notification, with emphasis on neighborhood of offender, of the bad driver’s status. Offer a significant reward for proven reporting of driving after suspension. The public is entitled to know that there is a dangerous driver in their midst.
Scarlet Letter punishment with a profit motive for the general public narcing on the criminal is probably better than prisons as a way to control a lot of these problems.
Just be sure to require video evidence of the perp actually driving on the road. I have some neighbors who would sell their mothers to the cops for $100.
Perhaps the issue is that the car leads to unethical behavior, as
per NPR this morning: http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=214723178&m=214724839
“You’ll also need to include mandatory liability for anyone lending any automobile to such a probationary driver, from friends to rental agencies.”
It’s called, “you’re liable to lose your vehicle if you lend it to a suspended/revoked driver”. Unless it has been reported stolen, any car found being driven by a suspended driver should be confiscated and sold. Proceeds go to your friendly neighborhood Police Association.
KATU reports that the mechanic saw the news reports and called her to tell her that he was calling the police and that she should turn herself in. Then he suited actions to words.
The report goes on: “According to police, she turned herself in after they knew where the car was but before they had made contact with her. She posted $1,000 bail and was released from jail late Thursday night.”
Kudos to the mechanic for doing the right thing. And shame on the Portland Police and this woman for their actions in this crime.
My $.02
that woman is a road menace and should no longer be extended the privilege of operating a motor vehicle. ever.
Damn! I’m looking for a good body shop but unfortunately am a few hundred miles away from Wilsonville.
Heal up fast, Henry!
Maybe an addendum to a license revocation should be you cannot have a car registered in your name, and if caught driving a car in someone elses name, charges can be broughtup against that person as well.
Hilarious if you look at her FB page, either she is the virgin mary or she had the sense to clean it up. All pictures of her and her son.
I do think its impossible to judge her from the fact that she lives in L.O. There are apartments there that working class people can live in. I think I read somewhere that she is a waitress.
I am plenty willing to judge her for mowing someone down on the road and leaving them to die rather than stopping and calling an ambulance for them to save their life if necessary.
I wonder if The Wayback Machine saves copies of Facebook pages?
Can people judger her on the “not that working class” almost brand new Subaru?
looks like she’ll get her license revoked for 5 years… she’s guilty of 3 of these just from this incident…
http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/DMV/Pages/driverid/suspreasons.aspx
I don’t see much difference between driving with a revoked license and driving with a suspended one… unless of course you get caught. All the more reason to flee an ‘accident’ scene!
I like the idea of revoking the car and not just the license. Someone above suggested using something similar to what they do with repeat DUI offenders, and the technology readily exists. For those that complain this type of solution leads to a ‘nanny state’ – they can direct their complaints to the countless people who flee car ‘accidents’.
Driver behavior that threatens human life definitely merits a jail term.
In order to keep the streets safer, we also need to actually enforce the laws that prohibit bars from serving the visibly intoxicated. It’s been a while since a bar was sued for serving a drunk who later crashed. Punishing the bars along with the drivers is a must. Unfortunately, the alcohol lobby is standing in the way of safer streets.
And people never drink in private residences.
make her ride a bike for a year to get idea of what its like. or ban her from driving until she grows up.
Why not make her be a pedestrian for life? Or say disable her legs for a period of time so she can get an idea of what it is like for someone disabled from a crash. Perhaps then she may sober up to the realities of what she did, and realize how ‘lucky’ she was that she isn’t a murderer now.
any updates ?
I am not saying it’s right to leave someone on the side of the road but you ALL dont know what you would have done of you were in the same situation!
I would never have BEEN in that situation: driving drunk without a license.
Yeah, I do. And it would not have been that!