PORTLAND, Oregon — The Portland man accused of speeding through the Grand Floral Parade Saturday morning pleaded not guilty during his first court appearance Monday afternoon.
Sidney Sean Mecham, 42, faces several criminal charges. In court, his attorney said “he was disoriented and trying to get away from a difficult situation” while driving recklessly through the closed-off parade route.
A video shot by one parade-goer shows the moment police start chasing Mecham. Families are seen running and screaming as Mecham continues to speed away from the police. The video shows the truck almost hit several families sitting on a curb, waiting for the parade to start.
Ariff Mohammed Ali was there with his wife and two kids. He took the video, and said if Mecham would have veered off the side of the road they were sitting on, they would have been the first people hit.
“Is this guy going for a rampage? Is he going to be killing families at the parade? Is he just angry at the blockage? What's going on?” were just some of the thoughts running through Ali’s head Saturday morning as he and his family ran to safety.
Police eventually caught up with Mecham and arrested him. He now faces several criminal charges including reckless driving and eluding an officer.
Court documents show Mecham is from Portland and has been in and out of prison and juvenile detention since he was 15 on sex abuse convictions against minors. His most recent charges are six counts of sex abuse of a minor—that 2021 case is still working its way through court. It's still unclear what his motive was for speeding through the parade route.
“It's pretty scary. It definitely makes me doubt what we're going to be doing in the future are we going to be continuing attending these parades and events in the city, or are we just going to stay home and watch on TV,” said Ali.
Mecham’s next court appearance is Tuesday morning at 9:20. There will be a possible hearing on Wednesday and he will go in front of a grand jury later this month.
Portland police are still looking to talk with anyone who witnessed what happened over the weekend.