A 47-year-old man struck by a car on Southeast Division Street in the middle of the night has died from his injuries nearly a week later, Portland police confirmed. Asare L. Kofi was hit near Southeast 101st Avenue on August 6 at 12:26 a.m., and he died on August 12 after being hospitalized with what officers initially described as life-threatening injuries.
According to a news release from Portland Police, officers from the East Precinct responded to a report of a pedestrian crash at the intersection early that morning and found a man with life-threatening injuries alongside emergency medical crews. He was transported to a hospital, but the medical examiner reported on August 12 that he died from injuries sustained in the crash, prompting the Major Crash Team supervisor to be notified and the case to be reclassified as a fatality. The crash is now logged under case number 26-228281.
Police say the driver remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators, meeting the standard set by Oregon law. Under ORS 811.705, any driver involved in a crash resulting in injury or death must immediately stop, render aid, and stay to provide identification to police. That compliance stands out against a troubling regional pattern: hit-and-run crashes in Portland rose 51% between 2020 and 2024 compared to the prior five-year stretch, now accounting for 17% of all pedestrian deaths and serious injuries, per Portland Bureau of Transportation statistics.
A Corridor With a Deadly Track Record
The stretch of Division near 101st sits on Portland's High Crash Network, a group of just 30 corridors that make up only 8% of city streets but account for between 62% and 71% of all local traffic deaths, city transportation records show. A separate PBOT analysis of state crash data ranked Division as the second most dangerous street in Portland for pedestrians and the fourth most dangerous for cyclists, having logged 22 traffic deaths and serious injuries before recent safety redesigns were put in place.
The timing of the crash also fits a broader citywide pattern. PBOT crash reports indicate that roughly 72% of all traffic fatalities in Portland happen during dark or twilight conditions, matching the pre-dawn hour of this collision. The agency has been upgrading streetlights and lane reflectivity along high-crash corridors specifically to cut down on crashes that happen after dark.
Safety Upgrades Already Underway Nearby
The crash site falls within the boundaries of PBOT's East Portland Active Transportation to Transit Project, which is actively building missing sidewalks, ADA-accessible corner ramps, and new signalized pedestrian crossings along Division between Southeast 101st Avenue and Southeast 143rd Avenue. The project is intended to improve pedestrian access to TriMet bus stops and neighborhood greenways in a part of the city that has long lagged in basic walking infrastructure. Automated speed safety cameras also run around the clock along Division as part of a state-restricted enforcement program limited to High Crash Network streets.
Whether speed, lighting, or crosswalk gaps played a role in Kofi's death has not been determined, and police have not released additional details beyond confirming the fatality. The Major Crash Team's investigation remains ongoing, and police say they are asking anyone with information about the crash who has not already spoken with investigators to come forward.
Part of a Larger Citywide Trend
Portland recorded 39 traffic fatalities in 2025, a 43% drop from the record high of 69 deaths in 2023 and the city's lowest annual total since 2018, according to Portland Bureau of Transportation data tied to the city's Vision Zero initiative. But progress has been uneven: city data published in July showed 25 traffic fatalities so far this year, including eight pedestrians, 11 motorcyclists and six vehicle occupants. Kofi's death adds to that pedestrian toll.
This is not the first fatal or serious crash Hoodline has covered on a High Crash Network street in East Portland in recent months. In July, a pedestrian died in a Hazelwood crash on Southeast Stark Street, another corridor on the city's high-crash list, and in June a vehicle slammed into a building farther out on Division near 142nd Avenue.
