Crashes Kill 3 on Christmas Day in Portland

In the first one at 12:19  on Christmas morning, a driver had fled the scene at Southeast Stark and 106th Avenue, where an off duty Portland police officer found a pedestrian who’d been hit. The officer called 911 and offered first aid. The victim was brought to a hospital, but later died. In the second crash, around 1 P.M. police found an adult male who had already died at Southwest Barber Boulevard in Taylors Ferry. Then, just after 5 P. M., Portland Police responded to reports of a car crash on Southeast 122nd Avenue, just south of Powell Boulevard. They found one of the drivers with critical injuries who was taken to a hospital.

The driver later died due to their injuries.

“Over the last three years, unfortunately, we have experienced almost the same number of traffic fatalities on our roadways consecutively,” said Sergeant Ty Engstrom, who just last week warned that with fewer hours of daylight and more of darkness now than any other time of year, the risk is much higher of deadly crashes. “We all use these roadways together. Andwe have to share them appropriately, and we have to drive appropriately, and at reasonable speeds, and we have to be vigilant,” Engstrom said.