GRESHAM, Ore. (KOIN) — A man crossing the street was struck and killed when a possibly impaired driver failed to stop for him on Saturday night.
The crash happened near the intersection of 192nd and Halsey Street around 5 p.m. Gresham Police said the pedestrian was in a crosswalk when he was hit by the car traveling eastbound. Witnesses believe the man may have gotten off at the bus stop just before he was hit.
“Whoever got hit by the car had just stepped off that bus,” said resident Rich Bjugan. The tragedy unfolded just a few blocks from his house. “It wasn’t dark yet, it was still daylight.”
The victim was identified as 21-year-old Zachary O’Leary.
He said that the driver didn’t appear to slow down as their car struck the man. Bjugan estimated that they were traveling over the speed limit.
“You could see he saw him,” said Bjugan. “It didn’t appear he tapped his brakes, didn’t slow down—just very tragic.”
Gresham Police said the driver did not initially stop, but returned to the crash scene about 35 minutes later and was cooperative from there.
The driver was later identified as David Haugen. The 38-year-old was arrested and now faces charges such as second-degree manslaughter, DUII, failure to perform duties of a driver and reckless driving.
“There’s a lot of traffic on Halsey, kind of a race track around here,” said Bjugan.
Neighbor Jaime Zitterkopf agrees that traffic speeds are a problem in this area, but she feels more legislation is not the answer.
“This is a hairy area and Halsey is very busy. I think it would be great if people just followed the rules and laws that are already on the books,” she said. “I say a lot of times, laws only work for those that choose to follow them.”
“There is a crosswalk at the light, but the foot traffic is pretty heavy through here,” said Bjugan. “It’s pretty lit, they have got crosswalks, people need to use the crosswalks and people need to slow down—period.”
He described the victim as a young man. He said his heart goes out to the victim’s family.
“It’s definitely a big loss for somebody, I’m sure,” said Bjugan.
Halsey Street at 192nd Ave was closed for roughly 4 hours Saturday evening while detectives investigated.
KOIN 6 News will continue to follow this story.