PORTLAND, Ore. — During a rash of illegal street racing Saturday night, the Portland Police Bureau reported that one motorcycle rider died in a crash and officers arrested another who sped through the crash scene.
Officers were working a "street racing mission" a little after 11:30 p.m. on Saturday when they responded to a report of a crash on North Marine Drive and North Bybee Lake Road. They arrived to find that a motorcycle rider had crashed into the side of an SUV and was dead at the scene.
The rider's identity has not yet been released pending family notifications.
Police said that the two people in the SUV were not seriously hurt but officers requested an ambulance anyway to have them medically evaluated. However, the ambulance was "significantly delayed" due to an illegal street takeover at North Marine Drive near the I-5 interchange that was blocking traffic, PPB said.
"The ambulance had to divert and go the long way around on North Columbia Boulevard past Kelley Point Park to approach from the west," the agency said in a statement. "The two SUV occupants were treated at the scene."
PPB's Major Crash Team responded to investigate the crash, shutting down part of North Marine Drive.
During that investigation, another motorcycle rider went around the police vehicles that were parked to close off the streets and began speeding through the scene, "nearly hitting" two uniformed police officers, including the North Precinct Commander, PPB said. When a traffic officer tried to stop him, he kept on going.
For almost an hour, according to PPB, the motorcycle rider led officers on a chase — speeding through red lights, riding on sidewalks, cutting through parks and riding on the Springwater Trail in Gresham. He was finally taken into custody at Southeast Woodland Drive and Southeast Eagle Lane in Gresham.
Police identified the suspect Sunday afternoon as 21-year-old Ethan K. Krebs of Gresham. He was booked into Multnomah County jail on charges for reckless driving, two counts of menacing, attempt to elude police, two counts of interfering with a peace officer, 10 counts of recklessly endangering another person and one count of assault on a public safety officer.
PPB said that the agency's surveillance plane and K9 unit, along with the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office and Gresham Police Department, were "critical" in tracking and arresting the motorcyclist.
The death on North Marine Drive was the 37th traffic-related death of 2023 in Portland, and the second in just over 5 hours, PPB said.
