PORTLAND, Ore. — During an enforcement mission Sunday night, Portland police officers arrested two men for
street racing and cited several other drivers.
Officers saw two people racing in the area of North Marine Drive and North Leadbetter Road late Sunday night. According to police, much of the street racing in Portland happens around Marine Drive.
Officers made the two arrests and issued nine citations to drivers. One motorcycle rider raced away from police, crashed and fled on foot. That rider has not been located.
The two men arrested were 18-year-old Paul Paliy and 24-year-old Petro Hurzhuy. Both were booked into the Multnomah County Jail. Paliy was charged with three counts of reckless driving and three counts of reckless endangerment. Petro was charged with five counts of reckless endangerment and three counts of reckless driving.
Two cars, a 2012 Subaru Impreza WRX and 2011 BMW M3 convertible, were towed from the scene.
Four people have died in Portland since 2015 in crashes involving street racing, police said.
Some crashes resulted in the deaths of innocent drivers who were hit by street racers, including 65-year-old Linda Johnston in 2015 and 26-year-old Alexander Keppinger in 2016.
The other two deaths occurred while racing, including 20-year-old Nick Chernyavskiy in 2016 and 19-year-old Daniel Kharlamov in April of this year.
Future enforcement missions like Sunday’s will be conducted as staffing allows, said Portland Police Sgt. Pete Simpson.
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