Two Portland girls are suing the town and police, alleging officers mistook their automotive for one pushed by a reckless driver who refused to tug over, adopted them for over 10 miles after which rammed into their automotive with out discover and pointed weapons at them.
Colleen McDonald and Hilary Rossio have been shocked as two Portland police automobiles hit their Ford Fusion and officers yelled expletives as they drew their weapons and ordered the ladies to boost their fingers, in line with the go well with filed Thursday in federal court docket in Portland.
The ladies, the go well with stated, did as they have been instructed whereas screaming, “What’s occurring?” and “You’ve got the unsuitable individuals!”
The go well with contends police have been reckless and negligent throughout the cease on Aug. 29, 2023. It alleges officers failed to acknowledge that the automotive and its occupants didn’t match the outline of the suspect’s automobile and used unreasonable power towards harmless motorists.
The Portland Police Bureau referred inquiries to the town legal professional, Robert Taylor, who declined remark.
The ladies, each 30 on the time, have been getting back from a visit to the Columbia River Gorge. On their approach again to Portland on westbound Interstate 84, a silver automotive sped by them, weaving via visitors, the go well with stated.
They later discovered that Officer Gregory Burns, working a police bike, had earlier noticed the silver sedan driving recklessly on southbound I-205 and adopted it onto Northeast Fremont Avenue. It stopped, the male driver acquired out and waved his arms at Burns, who referred to as for backup, after which the motorist took off once more, in line with the go well with and a tort declare discover within the case.
Burns, although, was in a position to see the driving force was a slender man with brief black hair, carrying a black T-shirt and grey shorts and was the one occupant within the automotive, the go well with says.
Police adopted the suspect onto westbound I-84, however Burns misidentified the ladies’s silver Ford Fusion because the suspect’s silver sedan and shared the misguided info with dispatchers, who handed it on to different officers, the go well with stated.
McDonald continued to go towards Southwest Portland to take her good friend house, going south on Interstate 5, and took the Southwest Terwilliger Boulevard exit, stopping at a purple mild on the finish of the exit ramp.
McDonald and Rossio have been unaware police had been following them, in line with their lawyer, Michael A. Cox.
As soon as the sunshine turned inexperienced, the ladies heard some sort of an object strike the again of their automotive however they continued via the sunshine. They later discovered police had tried to throw down spike strips from behind their automotive.
McDonald drove a few mile alongside Southwest Bertha Boulevard. Simply earlier than reaching the Capitol Freeway overpass, a police automotive with out lights or sirens on slammed into the aspect of their automotive, forcing it into a tough spin, and a second police automotive struck the entrance of their automotive, bringing it to a tough cease, the go well with stated.
Officers instantly swarmed the Ford Fusion, shouting on the occupants to indicate and lift their “(expletive) fingers” as they pointed their weapons on the automotive, the go well with stated.
“I’m like nonetheless shaking,” McDonald is heard on a short cellphone video she took of her automotive pinned by the 2 police automobiles as soon as she exited the automotive.
The ladies stated they got no discover that police have been following them or wished to cease them and stated they weren’t rushing or driving evasively, in line with the go well with. The police automobiles solely placed on their lights after putting McDonald’s automotive, the go well with stated.
Solely when the ladies stepped from their automotive did police calm down and put their weapons down, the go well with stated.
Regardless that the officers realized they’d stopped the unsuitable automotive, police made the ladies stay on the scene for about 20 minutes till a sergeant arrived, the go well with stated.
The go well with seeks as much as $1 million in damages for his or her ache and struggling in addition to $4,978 for repairs to McDonald’s automotive and greater than $15,000 for the ladies’s medical bills. It additionally asks for unspecified punitive damages.
Cox stated the ladies’s case is just like one other one he filed on behalf of Door Sprint driver Patrick Cunningham when police rammed his automotive in 2021, mistaking it because the automobile of a hit-and-run suspect. Town in 2023 ended up paying $50,000 to settle Cunningham’s go well with. Cunningham had truly stopped to offer help to the sufferer of the hit-and-run crash in Southeast Portland, Cox stated.
— Maxine Bernstein covers federal court docket and prison justice. Attain her at 503-221-8212, mbernstein@oregonian.com, observe her on X @maxoregonian, on Bluesky @maxbernstein.bsky.social or on LinkedIn.
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