According to Oregon police, a 24-year-old man was taken into custody after his sports car crashed into a tent camp, killing four people.
Enrique Rodriquez Jr., a victim of a downtown Salem crash that left two people pinned under his car, was taken into custody by police Sunday evening.
According to the Marion County District Attorney’s Office, he has been charged with four counts each of first-degree manslaughter and second- and third-degree assault, and six counts of recklessly endangering. According to prosecutors, he is being held at Marion County Jail indefinitely without bail.
Monday’s court hearing was set.
The sports coupe with two doors was not a typical street car. “crashed into an unsheltered encampment,”According to police, the incident was reported in a statement. “Two individuals died at the scene. Four people from the encampment were transported to Salem Health with life-threatening injuries, two of whom later died at the hospital. The driver, and sole occupant of the vehicle, was also transported for medical treatment,”According to the statement.
The “Salem Police Traffic Team is actively investigating the circumstances and believe alcohol may have been a contributing factor,”Police said.
Nathan Rose claimed that he and his girlfriend were sleeping in their tent when they heard loud bangs. Salem Statesman Journal reported.
Rose stated that the silver car had just missed their tent. Rose said that he helped to pull one person out of the car after calling 911.
“From there, it was just chaos,”Rose said this to the newspaper.
Police officers and community workers assisted in finding shelter for campers.
“In the winter, homeless residents crowd closer into the downtown trying to get closer to food, dry spaces and warmth,” said Jimmy Jones, executive director of the Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency, the newspaper reported.
“Our unsheltered spend most of their day trying to find a safe place to sleep and rest, but events like this remind us that there is no safe space,” Jones said.
Mike Wade came to the encampment after hearing one of his friends had been killed. He helped salvage belongings as an advocacy group offered food and replacement tents, the paper reported.
“It gets me weaker every day hearing about us die one by one,”Wade said. “My friends are dead and I don’t know what to say.”