Delivery driver Patrick Cunningham said Portland Police officers hit his car and arrested him after the family saw people surrounding a woman lying in the street around 7 p.m. on Saturday before stopping in order to help.
KOIN said the episode began when Cunningham, who said he had worked as a firefighter, put the hazard lights on and called 911 when he claimed to see the victim was not talking but had taken several breaths.
The Portland-based TV station reported that ambulance crew members arrived and started to perform emergency aid shortly afterward.
After they arrived, Cunningham left the scene to continue with his pizza delivery as he did not witness the hit-and-run.
Minutes later, Cunningham noticed a police car had started to follow him before the officer behind the wheel drove at them.
Cunningham told KOIN: “This cruiser drives straight at us and hits me on the driver’s side quarter panel and pins me against the curb.”
He continued: “Guns were drawn, pointed at me, my fiancée and our three girls in the back of the car. They had guns drawn, and upon that [my fiancée] yelled out the window, ‘We have kids in the car!’”
Officers then arrested Cunningham before they made calls and realized he was not the suspect they were searching for.
Cunningham said: “After the police officers pretty much realized that I wasn’t the one who hit that woman, they started apologizing.
“They went up to [my fiancée] apologizing and they were offering stickers and teddy bears to the kids. One officer, who actually hit me, offered to take the food and finish the DoorDash for us, which he did do.”
He later added: “I don’t know if Portland protocol is on traffic stops now too, you know, drive into the vehicle, but I’m more than sure that’s not police policy.”
In a statement given to Newsweek, Lt. Greg Pashley of the Portland Police Bureau said: “When this hit and run was originally reported, a witness described seeing a possible suspect vehicle leave the scene and provided a description of the vehicle, including a license plate.
“Officers found that vehicle, bearing the exact license plate, a few minutes later and stopped it near Southeast 119th Avenue and Southeast Stark Street. Officers employed a box-in, by making low-speed contact between their vehicle and the stopped vehicle.”
He continued: “Officers detained the driver of that vehicle briefly until they realized the driver was not a suspect.
“Police responding to the scene of a fatal hit and run, or any dispatched call, are expected to adapt their response to updates provided by dispatch on their way to the call. In this case, they were told of a potential suspect leaving the scene and given specific information to help identify that vehicle.
“Within minutes they found that vehicle and were quickly able to exonerate the vehicle and person, allowing other officers and investigators to focus on the scene of the fatal hit and run and work to begin trying to piece together what happened.
“Reports that police rammed a vehicle during this incident are not accurate. A ram is a technique used under very specific circumstances and is meant to disable the vehicle. That is not what happened in this case.”
Pashley also said the victim of the hit-and-run, 60-year-old Karen McClure of Portland, had died from her injuries.
The suspect remains at large and investigations into the fatal killing are still ongoing.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Portland Police Officer Garrett Dow Garrett.Dow@portlandoregon.gov or 503-823-5070.
