PORTLAND, Ore. — Police have identified a man who died on Thursday after crashing into a pickup truck while riding a motorcycle through the Piedmont neighborhood. Two people in the pickup truck were both injured in the crash.
According to the Portland Police Bureau's investigation, 26-year-old James E. Martin of Portland had been riding a stolen motorcycle eastbound on Northeast Columbia Boulevard "at a high rate of speed" around 1:40 p.m. on Thursday.
When he reached the intersection with Northeast Vancouver Avenue, PPB said that Martin ran a red light — sending him careening into the side of a Ford Ranger pickup towing a trailer that was entering the intersection headed northbound.
The force of the crash caused the pickup to roll onto its side, PPB said. The driver and his 8-year-old son were taken to the hospital with injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening.
Martin was killed in the crash, and PPB said that his family has been notified of his death.
Northeast Columbia Boulevard was closed for several hours between Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Interstate 5 following the collision, and the PPB Major Crash Team responded to investigate.
No arrests have been made or citations issued in connection with the crash.
The accident was the 16th fatal crash in Portland so far this year, police said, and the fourth involving a motorcycle. Last year was Portland's worst for traffic fatalities since 1990, including a large increase in pedestrian deaths, and the pace has continued so far in 2022.
