Portland Man Behind Bars Over Hit & Run Crash on I-205

OSP Arrests Portland man following hit & run crossover crash on Interstate 205 north of Sunnyside Road.

53-year old John William Redican faces charges in a hit and run crash that injured five people. Photo courtesy: Clackamas County Sheriff's Office

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - Oregon State Police troopers arrested a southeast Portland man early Saturday morning after he drove away from the scene of a traffic crash on Interstate 205 that caused another involved vehicle to cross over the center median and crash head-on with a third vehicle. Five people were injured in the two other involved vehicles.

Preliminary investigation indicates on November 21, 2008 at approximately 11:02 PM a 2003 Honda Civic driven by the suspect was southbound on Interstate 205 near milepost 14 when it rear-ended a rented 2008 Ford F150 pickup driven by 62-year old John R. Smart of Detroit, Michigan.

The impact caused the Ford pickup to lose control, spin out and drive up the center median embankment into the left northbound lane where it crashed head-on with a 2004 Nissan driven by 42-year old Kevin W. Chong of Vancouver, Washington.

The suspect drove away from the scene but was followed by a witness who obtained the car's license plate information and provided it to OSP.

On November 22nd at 1:09 AM OSP troopers arrested 53-year old John William Redican at his southeast Portland apartment in the 300 block of SE 126th Avenue. Redican was lodged in the Clackamas County Jail on 2 counts of Felony Hit & Run, Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants, Reckless Driving, 2 counts of third degree Assault and 3 counts of fourth degree Assault. John Smart and his two passengers, 31-year old Mary Wydock and 4-year old Robert Wydock of Indianapolis, Indiana were transported by ambulance to Oregon Health Sciences University with non-life threatening injuries.

Chong and his passenger, 41-year old David Cruthers of Vancouver, Washington, were transported by ambulance to Kaiser Sunnyside Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

OSP troopers from the Portland Area Command office are continuing the investigation with the assistance of the Clackamas County District Attorney's Office. Clackamas County Sheriff's Office, Clackamas County Fire District I and ODOT assisted at the scene. The northbound lanes of Interstate 205 were closed for approximately 90 minutes.