(Photos: Jonathan Maus/BikePortland)
Late Tuesday night around 10:30 pm Portland Police officers responded to a traffic collision on North Killingsworth street just west of I-5. When they arrived an adult male bicycle rider was on the ground near the intersection with N Minnesota suffering from what police say were “life-threatening” injuries.
The driver of the car that hit the bicycle rider was not at the scene and is currently on the loose as a hit-and-run suspect.
This section of Killingsworth has an unprotected, paint-only bike lane adjacent to a mix of parked cars and curb extensions. The speed limit is 20 mph and traffic volumes and speeds are relatively low. When I first heard about this crash I assume it happened at the Minnesota intersection, which is a de facto onramp to I-5 — which means many drivers make the turn onto it from Killingsworth without necessary caution.
I have since heard from a source who lives near the intersection that another nearby resident responded to the crash and stayed with the victim until the ambulance arrived. They say the impact was further west near N Montana and that, “The car accelerated and left his body about 100 feet from the original impact.” Based on markings from the investigation seen at the site this morning, the driver and bike rider were headed eastbound prior to the collision.
The police have opened an investigation and there’s a good chance one of the businesses adjacent to the collision has video footage. If you saw anything or have information to share, please email crimetips@portlandoregon.gov and reference case number 22-336821 .
UPDATE: 12/23 at 9:54 am: The victim of this collision is John Baker, a 49-year old Portland resident. According to his adoptive sister, he was born in Panama and was adopted into an American family from a USAF base when he was 5. He owns a carpentry business, loves to surf, and is the grandson of the Chief of the Kuna Indians. His sister has made a Facebook page to provide updates. On that page she says he remains in the hospital and his mom has arrived to be with him. His injuries are serious and he is being stabilized, but the full extent of the collision’s impact is yet to be known. He has many broken bones and severe head and neck injuries. Please keep him and his family in your thoughts. I will update this post as I hear more.
A GoFundMe has been set up.
Thanks for reading.
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Hey everyone, my name is Mondae. The cyclist whom was hit is my brother. This is the most current update. He is finally in stable condition, the did a procedure last night to take the pressure of swelling off his brain. He has a broken neck, a broken leg, I haven’t gotten word about internal organs. My mom just got there last night so I will have better updates. I have called PPD and left a message with the detective on the case. Idk if she will discuss it with me, but I will keep trying. My brother John is a hell of a guy! He’s a surfer, he’s a carpenter, he just turned 49 at the end of October. You’re welcome to go to my Facebook page and learn all about this amazing man who’s life is now forever changed. Thank you so very much for this story, the leads & your thoughts & prayers!
Thank you for sharing this Mondae. I am so sorry this happened to your brother. Please let us know if there’s anything we can do to help and keep us posted on his condition. Take care.
This is so heartbreaking and devastating. Definitely keeping you and your brother in my thoughts and really hope with all my heart that he has a full recovery.
We are all heart broken. Sadly it looks like John will be a paraplegic, he also sustained a TBI. They are weaning him off the respirator now so we should know in a few days the depth of his injuries. We ask for everyone to continue to pray, miracles do happen!
I am so sorry, Mondae, about what your brother and family are going through. Thank you for keeping us posted about John’s recovery.
T\hank you for sharing this. I hope he heals quickly.
I’m hoping the cyclist pulls through and recovers. So heartwrenching. I saw the crash team set up when I rode home from the east later in the evening and was worried it involved a cyclist or pedestrian. I live about 4 blocks away and while the speed limit is 20mph, that is often disregarded, especially late at night. I’ve had so many scary interactions with drivers around here, as a cyclist and pedestrian. When looking into what happened, I saw that as well there have been 2 pedestrians hit and killed by drivers in the last 3 days or so in Portland.
Sadness.
I hope one or more of the small businesses along that commercial section have CCTV footage to share for the investigation.
I’ve reached out to Up North as they have CCTV footage. They shared footage with me and we were able to send it to PPB. Awfully tragic what was filmed. Hopefully more can be determined from the Major Crash Team.
Please be on the lookout for a SILVER LEXUS, years 2013-2016 with recent significant damage. Model appears to be a hatchback (uncomfirmed)
Aloha Nic.Cota, great work! This may have saved it…as one never knows how quickly small business with an older CCTV security system “records over” their recorded footage, like a Swann type DVR…PPB may have taken weeks to get it based on manpower.
And by “significant damage” I assume you mean the windshield / hood or bumper are damaged? Any idea on the model from the footage you saw?
Comment of the Week.
Thank you for this information! Th victim is my brother, his name is John, and he is the best guy! He is right now stable, but has very serious injuries. We just ask for anyone to please pray for him. Thank you so so much!
Do you have pictures of the Lexus hatchback? I was recently nearly run down by a similar car in the Tillamook bike lane. Lexus hatchback hybrid driven by a late 20 something white male.
Thank you, Nic.
NO TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT = TRAFFIC VIOLENCE.
We can add adjudication and sentences to the list of contributions as well….and I’ll leave this one here for discussion:
*** Moderator*** The text of the link is misleading, Brown is forgiving traffic fines, not offenses. Unpaid fees.
Brown forgives Traffic Offenses
So sad to hear this news, but happy to see that you finally got the wording right:
“The driver of the car that hit the bicycle rider…”
For a while you were saying “The person driving hit the bicycle rider,” which was always incorrect.
Thanks for covering this important story and please post an update on the cyclist’s condition when you know it.
This stretch of Killingsworth Street is signed for 20 mph, but people routinely drive 30 mph plus, especially because they’re in a hurry trying to get on the freeway. I’ve always thought it might be a good idea to cut Killingsworth off from the freeway and force drivers to use Alberta St, which has all-way stops at the interchange and is less of a pedestrian/bike street around there. It would require closing off the frontage roads, but also doing diversion in the little pocket neighborhoods on both sides (otherwise you would just see a bunch of cut-through traffic).
Oh hell. There’s not any good thing to say when these things come out, so often. Thoughts? My thoughts are always pretty much “there goes me, next time?”
Mundane transportation should not have a feature of maiming human bodies. We are doing this wrong. One hundred people die in US car crashes today, and tomorrow, and Tuesday, and every other day. Many many more are hurt. If cars were an airplane we’d shut the damn thing down.
See: GoFundMe link at the end of the story. I wish I could do more for John and all the other people.