A pedestrian was seriously injured before dawn Monday when a driver struck them near NE Hogan Drive and Division Street in Gresham and then fled before officers arrived, according to police. The pedestrian was taken to a local hospital, and the suspect remains at large.
Officials responded to the crash just before 5 a.m., as reported by KOIN. Investigators told the outlet the suspect was likely driving a light-colored sedan or truck, though a more specific description has not been released. Gresham Police closed NE Hogan Drive between NE Division Street and NE Burnside Road for several hours while crews worked the scene.
Sgt. John Herrera has been assigned to investigate the crash, and Gresham Police are asking anyone with information to call the tip line at 503-618-2719 or toll-free at 1-888-989-3505, according to KGW. Investigators are hoping the public can help identify the vehicle involved before the driver gets further away from the scene.
A Pattern of Hit-and-Runs on Gresham's Arterials
Monday's crash is the latest in a string of hit-and-run and pedestrian-involved collisions that have rattled Gresham's busiest corridors this year. In January, 46-year-old Jeremie Skordahl was fatally struck near SE 182nd Avenue and SE Market Street by a driver who also fled, a case KGW covered as police hunted for the fleeing driver. In July, an elderly woman was killed crossing 181st Street in another fatal pedestrian collision, and in June a Gresham driver fled across municipal lines after severely injuring a pedestrian while facing a DUII charge.
Under Oregon Revised Statutes § 811.705, failing to stop and render aid to an injured person is a Class C felony that escalates to a Class B felony if the victim suffers serious physical injury or dies, per Justia Law. Oregon law requires drivers involved in injury crashes to stop immediately, provide reasonable assistance, and exchange identifying information with those affected or with police.
Hogan Road's Long History as a Danger Zone
Hogan Road has been flagged as a hazardous corridor for years. A 2020 pedestrian safety report by the nonprofit Oregon Walks identified the road as dangerous after 11-year-old Luis Medina and 17-year-old Jayden Auberry were killed in separate crashes just blocks apart within two weeks of each other that January, as documented by BikePortland. That advocacy pushed for improved crosswalks and reduced speed limits near school zones in the years since.
Portland Bureau of Transportation crash analysis has found that more than 70% of fatal traffic collisions happen on wide, multi-lane arterial roads — so-called High Crash Networks — even though those roads make up less than 10% of total street mileage regionwide. Division Street and Hogan Drive fall squarely into that category, prioritizing higher vehicle speeds in ways that increase both collision risk and impact severity for pedestrians.
Regional Push for Vision Zero by 2035
Between 2013 and 2022, traffic crashes across East Multnomah County killed 104 people and left 473 others seriously injured, according to county crash data. In response, the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners voted in January to adopt the East Multnomah County Transportation Safety Action Plan, setting a Vision Zero goal to eliminate all traffic fatalities and serious injuries in Gresham and surrounding communities by 2035. The plan brings together Gresham, Fairview, Troutdale, Wood Village, Multnomah County, and Metro, funded through a federal Safe Streets for All grant.
In May, Gresham scheduled pedestrian safety upgrades at multiple locations, including installing rectangular rapid flashing beacons along Division Street and filling in gaps in streetlight coverage on major corridors. Wide roadways and inadequate lighting are considered primary risk factors behind nighttime pedestrian crashes like Monday's.
Statewide, preliminary Oregon Department of Transportation data shows traffic fatalities fell from 587 in 2023 to 539 in 2024 and 487 in 2025, even as serious injury crashes near local arterial intersections remained elevated. Nationally, the Governors Highway Safety Association reported 3,024 pedestrian deaths in the first half of 2025, a 10.9% drop from the same period a year earlier but still 2.5% higher than pre-pandemic 2019 levels. Researchers point to larger vehicles like SUVs and high-speed arterial road designs as key factors behind the elevated toll.
The pedestrian's current condition has not been released, and it remains unclear whether investigators have recovered traffic camera or business surveillance footage of the vehicle involved. Anyone with information about Monday's crash is urged to contact Gresham Police through the tip line.
