GRESHAM, Ore. — A Gresham family wants justice after an unknown driver hit and ran over a young father on New Year’s Eve. Video of the hit-and-run was caught on camera, but police are still struggling to find the driver.
Audrey Blackburn said New Year's Eve was just another day with her two young boys and her husband, Angel. Angel began riding a motorcycle in July of 2023, and loved having his family drive alongside him.
On New Year's Eve, they had just come from a Steelers and Seahawks game in Seattle when Angel was hit at a red light on Division Street while riding his motorcycle. The driver then ran over Angel's body and parked by a nearby apartment before walking off.
"The car just came out of nowhere hit him from behind and then next thing you know he's in the street in front of me and the car is running him over," said Blackburn. "All I saw was a flash of red, because I was more focused on whether my husband was alive or not."
At first, she could barely tell if her husband was alive.
"I was screaming when I got out the car and confirmed that he was breathing. He was alive, his eyes were open and he was talking," said Blackburn.
Audrey said everyone who saw the crash came to check on Angel — everyone except the driver and passenger in the vehicle that hit him.
"The people who did this are not good whatsoever — to not only hit him but run him over, and then proceed to just park and casually get out of their car," said Blackburn.
One of the bystanders was a nurse, who began working on Angel right away. He was later transported to OHSU. There they performed surgery on his spine, clavicle, femur and ribs, and also placed a rod in one of his legs.
Blackburn was glad to announce Friday that Angel is finally tube-free after five days in the intensive care unit.
"Back-to-back-to-back surgeries, and he is just fighting. He's been through so much, and he is in a lot of pain," she said.
Blackburn said that the medical staff have no idea when Angel will be able to return home to his two boys. She hopes in the meantime they can catch the people who did this.
"He's upset about what happened to him," she said. "He's an active guy, and who knows, long-term, what his condition will be like, and these people may have taken that all away from him."
A GoFundMe has been created to help the Blackburn family.
Gresham police are still looking for the suspect and passenger who abandoned a Red Chevy Aveo near Southeast Division and 202nd Avenue. Police provided a link to a YouTube video with short video snippets of the suspect. If anyone recognizes the suspect or passenger, they are asked to call the Gresham Police tip line at 503-618-2719.