Man struck, killed in Gresham crosswalk

GRESHAM, Ore. (KOIN) — A man died after he was struck by a car across the street from Gresham Fire Station No. 74 Saturday evening, according to police. It 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 a 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.”

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-he tapped his brakes, didn’t slow down—just very tragic.”

Gresham Police said the driver did not initially stop, but later returned to the crash scene and was cooperative.

“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.