Illegal Street Racing Leads To Two Arrests, Nine People Cited

PORTLAND, OR — Police on Sunday night arrested two men and cited nine other people who were engaged in illegal racing on Marine Drive in Northeast Portland. A motorcycle rider who crashed his bike then got away on foot is being sought by law enforcement.

Paul Paliy, 18, and Petro Hurzhuy, 24, were both lodged at the Multnomah County Jail on June 25. Both received multiple charges of reckless driving and recklessly endangering another person, according to the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office, and both have since been released on their recognizance.

Their vehicles — Paliy's 2012 Subaru Impreza WRX and Hurzhuy's 2011 BMW M3 Convertible — were towed from the scene, police said.

Street racing has a deadly recent history in the Portland area, police said, noting four deaths since Dec. 4, 2015, when Linda Johnston, 65, was killed after two racing motorcyclists crashed into her car at Southeast 160th Avenue and Start Street.

Just over one month later, on Jan. 23, 2016, Nick Chernyavskiy, 20, died after crashing his motorcycle during an illegal race on Northwest Airport Way, near Northeast 145th Avenue.

Less than two months after that, on March 6, 2016, Alexander Keppinger, 26, and Lan Vo, 30, were involved in a three-car crash on Northeast Glisan Street after one of two vehicles police say were racing crashed into Vo's car. Both men were critically injured, but only Keppinger died a couple weeks after the crash on March 24.

And on April 21, 2017, Daniel Kharlamov, 19, was killed in a high-speed crash on Southeast Powell Boulevard and Southeast 37th Avenue when his motorcycle collided with a pickup truck.

Conducting regular street racing stings will remain a prerogative of the PPB, officials said, in an effort to prevent the illegal activity from taking any more lives.

From the Portland Police Bureau:

The Traffic Division will be conducting future enforcement missions as staffing allows.

The Portland Police Bureau is committed to working with our partners in government and the community to create safer streets and work towards reducing, and eventually eliminating, traffic fatalities as part of Vision Zero.

To learn more about the City of Portland's Vision Zero effort, please visit: http://www.portlandoregon.gov/transportation/40390

Photo Courtesy: Portland Police Bureau