A man in a pickup truck allegedly forced a bicycle rider off the I-205 bike path in southeast Portland Saturday afternoon.
According to the Reddit thread where the incident was posted it happened where the path intersects with SE Steele Street, just east of Lents Park.
The person who posted the thread says he/she was a victim of verbal assault and called the Portland Police Bureau after it happened. “I was forced off the path today by these fine upstanding gentlemen who shouted ‘FUCK YOU’ and ‘WE KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE’,” wrote the Redditor named NewAgeHookers.
The person who posted the incident is a regular user of the path and says this isn’t the first time they’ve encountered a motor vehicle on this section of the path. “Not only are the current bollards easily damaged (and seldom repaired),” wrote the poster, “the whole design of those loop-around streets is bad. All it takes to get on the path is hopping a low curb, and any old pickup can do that. It needs some kind of landscape barrier like earthen berms or rocks.”
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This isn’t the first time we’ve reported on people driving on the 205 path.
In 2007 a man reported that he was run down by a pickup truck driver while biking on the section of the path in the middle of the Glenn Jackson Bridge. In 2013 a woman managed to drive onto the bridge path and got her small sedan stuck on a narrow section. And last year a woman drove onto the bike path from the SE Powell Blvd MAX station.
The Oregon Department of Transportation owns and manages the I-205 bike path; but when people use the path illegally ODOT defers to the PPB. We’ve reached out to both agencies for comment and will post anything we hear.
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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Man, it’s always the Ford pickup drivers.
And the BMW drivers, and the Mercedes drivers, and the Land Rover drivers and the…
it’s not a white truck, so that’s a change…
…perhaps its a legacy of Henry Ford’s ‘political’ publications from the 1930s…
Just an observation, but it seems that many of the bad and beligerent drivers around town have washington plates. Now that the new highway bill enables tolls, lets get some set up on the interstate bridge pronto.
Meh. I’m more bothered by Californians.
Nope. Washington drivers by 10-1.
The truck in the photos doesn’t appear to have any plates.
Washington plates are clearly visible in the top left image.
Has one in the back, under the tailgate.
Guess I’ll have to look at it with a real computer is tea of my phone.
Rear plate is Washington State B41329N. Clearly in violation of the “no motor vehicles” MUP rule and has an improperly secured load. I rode out there to Powell Butte that same day and was sad to think to myself for the first time that I should really carry something for self defense.
Look, I just look for any opportunity to jab at California. It feels good.
and it’s easy cuz it’s half the Portland population…
Nine times out of ten, when I see someone driving on the bus mall downtown, it’s a Washington plate.
and half the time it’s an Uber driver…
Confirmation bias much?
Damn … I was falsely relieved at thinking it was an Oregon vehicle by the location of the incident…well one can always “hope” that it was an Oregonian driving a truck stolen from Washington.
Why would it matter if it was an Oregon vehicle?
Build a wall to keep all the Washingtonians out of Portland! They’re bringing drugs, driving poorly, and some, I assume, are good people. And Washington will pay for it!
Their bad hombres! 😉
Hey- it takes ambition to transport a meth lab all the way across Lents.
I bike from NE to Lents a lot. I’ve been choosing surface streets lately, due to the uptick of sketchy stuff on the 205 path. It’s the new Springwater Corridor.
Yes, the intersection of the two has become pretty bad.
That section between Burnside and Start is SKETCH city.
Thanks ODOT!!
More like thanks Charlie Hales and City Council.
You forgot to explicitly call out Amanda Fritz. Surely she is directly responsible, somehow, right?
I live in outer SE and bike along the 205 and the Springwater often. The folks camped out have never been anything but polite any time I’ve gone by them. Yes, it can be intimidating and frustrating to see the 205 and the Springwater crowded with camps, but the unfortunate circumstances of people just trying to find a place to be doesn’t make them bad people.
If it wasn’t for the raised middle finger I would have guessed that this guy was calling out,” Which way to the Mad Max casting call?”
He got lost looking for the gates of Valhalla.
Naw looks more like the ghost of Bradley Nowell from Sublime.
wow
Seems like a nice guy.
Based on their load, they look like campers to me.
Yep – or at the very least, sketchy “friend” (fence/supplier) moving their “friend” (gleaner/dealer) down the path because that area was posted and swept recently.
My (informed based on what I’ve obeserved from living right down the street from this spot for years) deduction is they’re both homeless – and the plates on that truck probably never belonged to that truck. He’s probably got three or four different license plates stashed in the glove box. It’s something that comes in handy when the truck gets tagged – they just switch plates.
Our city’s become a scammer’s paradise.
Charlie Hales should be personally sued for helping create this mess by putting out a welcome mat, and then ordering the police to not uphold the law.
White dude in a pickup yelling at a cyclist? Color me shocked.
Shit, I didn’t even notice that.
I was thinking he looked like he might be “affiliated” with a group.
So what about if he’s homeless?
When the Roman Empire went in to decline it was attacked on all sides by Tribes of Barbarians. Not sure if the U.S. empire is in decline yet but these guys sure seem ready to play the part of the Barbarians.
Very nice. Sorry the poster had to endure this. Well, even if the police can’t (won’t) act on the threats, it should be a simple matter to cite him for the missing front license plate.
Maybe lack of a back license plate too? Is the vehicle even licensed at all? And how about the person driving? Do they have a driver’s license? What’s he doing driving on a MUP on which use of a motor vehicle is illegal? Distinctive paint job on the pickup though. Unless the owner goes to the store and buys a bunch more rattle can paint, the paint job could help identify the vehicle. Sounds like nobody was physically hurt in this incident…a good thing.
Totally unrelated incident last Saturday morning on the north Hwy 26 MUP just west of the Sylvan overpass:
Riding with three other people, we were passed by a guy riding a gas motor powered bike of some sort. He came up behind me and went by so fast, I couldn’t scope out much more about the vehicle, whether it was a commercially produced vehicle, or some hacked together job…but probably was the latter, because the exhaust was rather heavy with blue oil smoke. Smelled bad. Guy (at least I think it was a guy.) was big at the waist, and was wearing a bright orange hi-vis safety vest. The fast rider in our group pursued and tried to catch the motor rider, but couldn’t quite.
Both of these incidents are low level violations, so what kind of response prioritization can be reasonably expected of the police? The police need something tangible to proceed on. In the I-205 incident, really good pics are available, so if the guy can be tracked down, he might be cited for various things…lack of required vehicle equipment, license, harassment.
For the Sylvan incident myself and fellow riders experienced, we got nothing at present, unless someone else has seen and can help identify the gas motor rider.
Back plate is there.
Washington plate B41329N
Shouldn’t be hard to find the driver.
Often times, plates are slapped on stolen vehicles to avoid detection. In this case, the number matches up with the truck make/model.
BOLO!
Sounds like y’all have been watching too much “Justified” on TV…better get Constable Bob Sweeney on it…
Good chance of that limb being fairly sturdy. Imagine the cops that get the fun job of having to approach the two guys that were in the truck, wondering what they’re going to find, and what they’ll be having to do to deal with the situation.
What responsible, civil person goes out of their way to attract the kind of attention these two guys did? What do you think the chances are, these two guys didn’t know that driving on the MUP was illegal? Try ‘0’. If that’s not bad enough, then they’ve got to harass someone trying to legally use the path…talk offensively to them, physically disrespect them. What do you think the chances are the two guys don’t have criminal records or bad driving records?
I wonder if it’ll turn out that they do have some legitimate means of income. Think positive, I guess. Just two guys trying to earn an honest buck, scrappin’ or something, only to be hassled by some self righteous bicyclist? Hope these are good guys trying to do good, that just got a little frustrated, thinking someone was harassing them rather than vice-versa. If they’re bad guys, there really isn’t jail space in which to lock them for any meaningful length of time, even if that were an effective means to getting them on a better behavior track.
…the phone as camera may have also gotten their anger up depending on what their current status with the PPB is…
The police would not cite him if they did catch him because he probably does not have a driver’s license or insurance.
And hopefully it will get towed after it is found with 4 flat tires.
If only the required autos to have tags so they could track down this horrible person. Oh wait…
maybe these were just upstanding citizens who took it upon themselves to clean up the multiuse path and load all the camping refuse in to their truck as they went. And they were just expressing disappointment with the cyclist when he did not volunteer to help them in their quest.
Almost certainly vehicle campers from the motley collection of junk piled in/on the truck and classy spray paint accents. Check the shadowed passenger in the middle finger shot. Wow, almost more scary than tattoo man. If I saw this guy there I would just quickly deploy cyclocross mode and do a grass start-line style sprint wide around him.
I can’t see the passenger in the truck very well. Maybe the passenger is the driver’s girlfriend.
Yeah, but only if his girlfriend is a bearded lady.
paint job worries me just think of that beast at night..
Gas tax will be increased by the state $0.10 over 8 years was it? Let’s add at least a few dollars to that in city/metro. At least keep it as high as Washington’s.
Another reason for gun control. Imagine that hot head with a pistol.
I’m guessing he left the gun at home, with his pants.
I’m guessing he’s not the law abiding type. I mean, he’s already driving on a bike path.
The poorly-done tattoos are most likely prison tats (especially the SS one). Prison means felony conviction. Felony conviction means no guns for him.
For clarity: Felony conviction means “no guns” for him.
I doubt that would stop him…
Another reason for license to carry concealed if you’re a cyclist
Note–I am an older white man who lives in a suburb as I say this. The scariest driver behavior I ever see is from white men older than 30 in full-size US made pickup trucks; the most aggressive and inconsiderate. The very worst ones always have a chrome fish on the truck’s tailgate or bumper too, no lie! Comparing notes with a Florida cyclist on a tour my wife and I were on, the Fl rider claimed that pickup trucks with “Choose Life” plates were the worst.
That is because it’s difficult to find a more entitled group of individuals.
…SELF entitled.
Yep. Last month, I was run off the road by an angry white man in a giant pickup truck, who boxed me in then got out of his truck to threaten me. Something about lifted pickups and white male aggression go hand in hand.
It’s almost like they are compensating for something in both their behavior and vehicle choices.
I wonder what it could be
Interestingly, in truly rural areas I find pickup trucks friendly and courteous. Maybe it have more to do with the appropriateness of the vehicle choice than the vehicle itself. In the city, an over-sized or overpriced vehicle is compensation for personal weakness and insecurity. On a ranch, a pickup is a tool to haul feed and fence posts.
Yeah, I never get any problems from the people where it’s obvious that they are using their pickup truck for actual work, rather than for show.
Yup. Suburban cowboys.
Why do Californians bother you?
Does anyone know where SE Steele is (north or south) in relation to Marshall High School? My daughter goes to Grant HS, which will be at Marshall, while Grant is under construction the next 2 years. She is planning to bike there some days and I’m sure she’s not the only one. Perhaps, the uptick in traffic from Grant high schoolers commuting to school could sway ODOT to take better measures to prevent autos from getting on the path?
Cars are the least of my concerns when I ride 205, but maybe I’ve been lucky. I’d rate homeless camps first and broken glass and flats second (barely). You might check out that section of the path personally. Just know the 205 camps move and what and who is there today may be gone tomorrow and vice versa.
Marshall has been used for years as other high schools (most recently Franklin) undergo renovations/rebuilds. But being on the wealthier high schools in Portland maybe Grant will make a difference.
SE Steele is south of Marshall High School
Hmmmm, more than a just little disturbing. Interesting how some folks who know they are doing the wrong thing, get nasty defensive.
Really don’t know how pro active the PPD are to complaints of this nature? Would really like to hear about any PDD follow up.
I’m guessing it is a low priority.
With recent tragic events in the nation & PDX, I would caution awareness & avoidance measures, especially when solo.
Stay safe out there
I just spotted this truck at 6221 SE 87th, the corner of 87 & Tolman.