On Friday, December 2, 2016 at about 9:05 PM, a Lincoln City Police Officer on patrol came upon a motor vehicle crash that had just occurred on Hwy 101 just north of the NW 26^th Street intersection. The officer found a 56 year-old male adult, who had had extensive injuries, lying in the middle of the southbound lane of the highway. There were several other persons on scene with the male. The officer notified the dispatch center of the situation and requested further assistance and medical personnel to respond. The officer immediately began checking the adult male to render aid, but found the male was not breathing and did not have a pulse. Due the obvious extensive injuries, the male victim was determined to be deceased at the scene.

During the subsequent crash investigation it was learned that the male victim had been lying in the southbound lane of the highway when he was struck by a vehicle traveling south. The driver of that vehicle immediately pulled over and stopped after hitting the male, but before he could get out of his vehicle and back to the male in the roadway, a second vehicle hit the male in the roadway. The driver of the second vehicle also immediately pulled over and got out to assist. That is when the Lincoln City Police Officer arrived on scene. The drivers of both of the involved vehicles remained on scene and where cooperative with the investigation. At the time of the crash the road surface was wet and it was dark, but there were functioning street lights in the area. The male in the roadway was wearing dark clothing and there was some information that the male was reported to be intoxicated just prior to being struck by the vehicles. The male victim has been identified and was known to be a transient in the area, but his identity is being withheld until next of kin can be located and notified of his death.

Due to the nature of this incident, the Lincoln County Major Crash Team was activated requested to respond and assisted with the investigation. Assistance at the crash scene was provided by members of the crash team from the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department, the Newport Police Department, the Toledo Police Department, the Lincoln City Police Department and the Lincoln County District Attorney’s Office. Additional assistance was provided by North Lincoln Fire & Rescue personnel and from the ODOT Incident Response team. The southbound lane of Hwy 101 was closed for about three and a half hours while the crash was being investigated, with south bound traffic being diverted around the scene on area side streets.   There is no indication at this time that speed or driver impairment were factors in this incident and no citations were issued. The investigation is open and anyone with information should contact the Lincoln City Police Department at 541-994-3636.