PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Greg Porter, the 61-year-old accused of driving onto a sidewalk on the Portland State University campus and injuring 3 women and fleeing the scene, faces 9 charges, including 3 of attempted aggravated murder.
Porter made his first court appearance Tuesday afternoon in Multnomah County. He remains behind bars at the Multnomah County Jail on $772,500 bail and will officially be arraigned on June 6.
A number of different documents were released Tuesday, including the probable cause to arrest him. That document states Porter used his blue Mazda Tribute to drive on the east sidewalk of SW 6th on the PSU campus and hit Hannah Cline, Sabrina Vuscan and Fadra Regis.
Cline suffered life-threatening injuries. Vuscan suffered a lacerated liver and spleen and Regis has a fractured leg. All 3 women remain in the hospital at OHSU.
In a statement, PSU confirmed that Cline is a freshman at the school. The other two are not students.
Hannah Cline is a freshman at PSU. University staff have reached out to her family to offer support as she recovers from her injuries suffered in Friday’s tragic incident when she was struck by a vehicle while walking on the sidewalk on campus. Her fellow students have rallied around her and her family, and the PSU community will continue efforts to support Hannah’s recovery.
The documents reveal police arrived at the scene very quickly and spoke with a number of witnesses who all basically said the same thing: The blue Mazda Tribute went up the sidewalk ramp and onto the sidewalk in a “controlled sort of way.” The car was going “so fast” on the sidewalk, hit the 3 women and kept going.
The SUV was headed toward another group of men but a MAX train turned on SW 6th and prevented the car from moving forward.
Another witness said the driver — a “large bellied white male with grey hair and a white sweatshirt” — stopped at a red light at SW Broadway.
The car left the crash scene. A few hours later a man walking his dog saw a blue Mazda Tribute with front-end damage sitting parked in a Northeast Portland neighborhood with a man sitting inside. The dog-walker realized the car may be involved in the PSU crash, took some pictures and called police.
Porter was then taken into custody without incident.
What other documents showed
Greg Porter was a transient who had been living out of his car for the last year, according to court documents.
Documents detailing his life were released Tuesday ahead of his scheduled court appearance. Authorities said he had been in the Portland area for the last 6 years, but had only been homeless since May 2017. Porter told police he had a 9th-grade education and lived off of Social Security disability checks of $1,425 a month.
Porter allegedly drove up onto the sidewalk at Southwest 6th Avenue and Hall Street and struck the women around 10 a.m on Friday. According to court documents, Porter didn’t know the three victims.
The documents state that Porter was suicidal with mental health issues, however, he had never been diagnosed. He reportedly smoked marijuana daily for pain, but said he only drank twice a year.
He’s also a widower, although it’s unclear when his wife died.
Authorities said Porter’s criminal record dates back to 1976 when he was convicted of larceny in Texas. He was also convicted of driving under the influence in 1996.
Porter made his first court appearance Tuesday afternoon and was ordered not to have any contact with the victims.