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iPhone's SOS feature helps alert dispatchers of deadly Happy Valley crash

Deputies are thanking technology for helping them to locate a deadly crash in Clackamas County over the weekend.

CLACKAMAS COUNTY, Ore — The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office is giving credit to technology for helping them to locate a serious crash that left one person dead over the weekend. Deputies are still investigating what happened, but they say the driver was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.

The crash was so serious that a crash detection alert from an iPhone inside the car was sent right to 911 dispatch.

Early Saturday morning, deputies with the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office were called out to the area of Southeast Bob Schumacher Road and Southeast Steven Court in Happy Valley. The crash happened off a steep embankment and could easily have been missed.

“That area is densely vegetated and it’s hard to see from the roadway. So had we not gotten that alert from the iPhone, it’s hard to say how long it would have been for us to know if that crash had occurred," said Sergeant Russ Clemson with the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office.

Someone inside the car had an iPhone and the phone used a feature to send an emergency alert to 911 dispatch.

“iPhone has the technology to detect a severe crash and in this case it did detect that, and it actually notified our 911 dispatch center of the crash,” Clemson said. "Deputies were able to get on the scene with minutes of getting that alert."

That specific area of the roadway is tough to get down to and deputies had to go to an adjoining business to gain access, according to Clemson. Deputies were able to locate the Subaru, which was laying on its top. 

The driver, 21-year-old Gavin Wallis, was found trapped in the driver seat. He was rescued and transferred to a local hospital. Sadly, passenger Giovanny Avila died at the scene.

Clemson said that without the iPhone's technology, there's a good chance they wouldn’t have even known the crash happened. The driver of the car, Wallis, has been charged with second-degree manslaughter and DUII. He’s being held without bail.

All versions of the iPhone 14 and newer have crash detection technology, including newer versions of the Apple Watch.

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