(Photo: Brad Biddle)
Portlander Aleah Greene is recovering from her injuries after she was involved in a collision yesterday evening.
At around 6:00 last night Greene was riding her bike at Northeast 13th and Wygant whe she was struck by a man driving a Dodge Caravan. Here’s how Greene remembers it:
“It all happened pretty quick. I was riding down 13th (helmet and lights on), when I got to the intersection of Wygant and started passing through I noticed the white van heading towards me was not stopping and was turning left into/in front of me. I don’t remember seeing a signal. We both had the right of way, no stop signs were run. He just didn’t see me is what he said.
I had split seconds to react so luckily I turned my shoulder into the car when I hit instead of my face/head. I wasn’t thrown thank god, I hit and rolled off and fell to the ground. Most of the impact was to my left outer shin/calf and right inner/top ankle, I have a slight bump on my nose. But it could’ve been much worse so I’m fortunate.”
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Brad Biddle and his wife heard the collision and arrived on the scene right after it happened. Biddle snapped a photo of the man who hit Aleah. Then, as Biddle called 911 he says, “the driver jumped in his car and raced away.”
According to Greene, the man is still on the loose. He’s driving a late 1990s white Dodge caravan with temporary Delaware plates.
Thankfully, Biddle snapped a good photo of the suspect and the police are using it in their investigation. (I’ve decided to not post the photo because the man has not been proven guilty of any crimes.)
We heard from Greene via email just a few minutes ago. She’s feeling pretty sore and has, “gnarly bumps and bruises, and some lightheadedness.” Her bike is totaled and will require $350 to get back on the road. “At that price I’m just going to buy a new bike,” she said. “It was an oldy I bought off craigslist years ago, but I put so much into it over the past 6 years it’s said to see her broken.”
If you have any information about this collision or this vehicle, please call the Portland Police non-emergency line at (503) 823-3333 or contact Officer Patrick Johnson via email at patrick.johnson@portlandoregon.gov.
UPDATE, 6:42pm: The suspect has been caught! Here’s what I just read from Ms. Greene:
“I have such good news! We found the guy thanks to the posts you all posted. Turns out the guy lives next door to me, very very strange…. I can’t say again how much I appreciate all that you have done.
Also, I just realized this all came about because one of our readers took action after reading this post. Here’s the comment Rob posted below:
Oddest series of events I’ve ever been in. I saw the Delaware tags, so stopped to take a picture. Then I crossed the next intersection to stop and call the police non-emergency number.
While I was on hold, the Fox-12 News van pulled up. I assumed someone else had called it in, but no it turns out I was in front of the victim’s home and they were there for an interview.
Aleah (the victim) comes out and I give her the phone to talk to the police. In the mean time the drive comes out and the Fox-12 people go and confront him – not surprisingly he runs off.
Anyhow, last I saw the cops were on the their way and the driver was positively identified.
UPDATE: Fox-12 TV was on the scene when it all went down and they talked to Rob. Read their story here
— Jonathan Maus, (503) 706-8804 – jonathan@bikeportland.org