Portland police are asking for the public's help identifying a driver described as a white man in his 70s wearing cowboy attire, accused of slamming into an e-scooter rider from behind near SE 52nd Avenue and SE Woodstock Boulevard before speeding off. The crash happened just before 2 p.m. on October 1, leaving the rider hospitalized with serious injuries.
According to the KPTV, the scooter rider had been traveling south on SE 52nd Avenue and moved into the left lane to turn onto SE Woodstock Boulevard when a black Hyundai reportedly struck him from behind. Police believe the vehicle is a 2012-2014 Genesis four-door sedan. Investigators say the driver got out of the car, yelled at the injured rider, then got back in and drove west on SE Woodstock Boulevard, according to police.
The Portland Police Bureau released surveillance images Tuesday showing the driver exiting the vehicle, hoping someone recognizes him, as detailed in a Portland Police Bureau release. Anyone with information is asked to submit a tip referencing case number 26-291572. The bureau's Traffic Division Major Crash Team typically takes over investigations like this one when officers determine injuries are severe or potentially life-threatening, per the bureau's own procedures.
A Scooter Boom Meets a Surge in Hit-and-Runs
The rider was using a motorized scooter. Separately, shared e-scooters have become a fixture of Portland streets since the city's shared scooter program went permanent in summer 2024. PBOT has since expanded the citywide fleet to as many as 4,300 devices operated by Lime and Lyft; by 2022, the program had logged more than 3.2 million trips since 2018. Oregon law and city rules allow scooter riders on streets and in bike lanes, but bar them from sidewalks and cap their speed at 15 mph.
That growth has unfolded alongside a troubling trend: hit-and-run crashes in Portland jumped 51% between 2020 and 2024 compared with the previous five-year span, now accounting for 17% of pedestrian deaths and serious injuries, as Hoodline has previously reported. That rise comes even as Portland's overall traffic fatalities have fallen sharply, with 39 deaths recorded in 2025 — a 38% drop from 2024 and a 43% decline from the 2023 peak of 69, per city data.
A Crash on Woodstock Boulevard
SE Woodstock Boulevard has been the site of at least one crash. The intersection sits outside the city's formally designated High Crash Network of 30 major corridors, which make up just 8% of Portland's streets but account for 62%–71% of traffic deaths citywide.
Portland has speed cameras and a High Crash Network. If investigators identify the driver in this case, he could face a charge under Oregon Revised Statute 811.705, which requires a driver to stop and render aid to an injured person.
It remains unclear whether the surveillance images captured the vehicle's license plate or whether the driver lives in the Woodstock neighborhood. The case adds to a string of recent hit-and-run investigations across the city that Hoodline has tracked, including a gun-pointing driver search on SE Stark Street. For now, police are relying on the public to help put a name to the face in the surveillance photos.
