Did you get hit by driver of this red pick-up while crossing Martin Luther King Jr Blvd last night?

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

5 years ago

Screen Shot 2020-02-12 at 9.35.42 AM — The driver of this truck hit someone riding a bicycle, then kept driving. UPDATE: The plate number is obscured because we’re looking for the victim, not the driver at this point. The police know the plate number.
(Photo sent in by a reader)

If so, a reader witnessed the crash, snapped a photo of the driver’s license plate, and wants to help you get justice.

Here’s the note we just received via email (along with the photo above):

I witnessed a bike hit and run, and wanted to know if there was something I should do about it – I saw the biker get hit by the driver of this red truck.

About 5:30 this evening [Tuesday, 2/11] a biker was heading east crossing the Burnside bridge, and so was this truck. The bike was in the bike lane, the truck was in the turning lane to go south on MLK, once across the bridge. The truck turned right on to MLK, and hit the biker as he was continuing east across MLK. He hit the biker, didn’t run over him fortunately, but didn’t even stop. Fortunately the biker did make it the rest of the way across the intersection. He probably has a bent up bike.

I was behind the truck that hit him and did see the biker head off. I snapped a couple photos of the truck, below, as he took off. I assume the cyclist is OK because he/she cycled off.

Not sure what to do, but I’d like the cyclist to know there was a witness (and a photo) to this unfortunate thing.

In case you’re wondering, I advised the witness to call the Portland Police non-emergency line (823-3333) right away. I’ve been told by several officers over the years that this is an important thing to do because if/when the perpetrator does something else later and someone runs their plates, this incident will strengthen the case against them and increase the likelihood of them facing some form of justice.

If you were the victim of this hit-and-run, I’d also recommend you call the non-emergency line. And please contact me so I can connect you to the witness. And sorry about what happened. Hope you are not too shaken up.

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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