Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty denied on Thursday that she was involved in a minor hit-and-run accident in Southeast Portland, which another motorist reported to police.
A driver told police she was chased Wednesday afternoon while stopping at a traffic light, according to sources familiar with the allegations but unauthorized to speak in public.
The driver contacted police about the collision after returning home hours later. According to her, she was earlier along the road with the car that hit her and saw the other driver on the phone or looked down at her lap before the accident.
The driver identified Hardesty as the motorist who hit her while driving with a brown four-door sedan, according to a computer shipping report. No injuries were reported.
Hardesty called the allegations a “smear campaign” against her and said she wanted the report investigated because it “threatened my reputation as a city council member and as a transport commissioner.” She said she was home during the report.
“I did not hit anyone. I did not drive. Nobody was driving my car. The whole allegation is completely false, ‘she said during an afternoon video conference with media from her home. “I tell you today: these allegations are false, and to be honest, these allegations are suspicious.”
She said her car, a Volkswagen Passat, was outside her home and had been unusable for the past six months due to a broken door lock and a flat battery. She said she donated another car to Volunteers of America and did not know if the car was still registered in her name. She said she did not know the make and model of the car, but plans to release the information soon.
“After COVID happened, it became impossible to do the DMV transfer process, so it is quite possible that there is another car registered with me,” Hardesty said.
Hardesty revealed her suspicion on a Facebook website called Savepdx.org. It posted a Zoom-live chat on Thursday morning hosted by Jeff Reynolds, who quoted a report of the Portland police incident about a hit-and-run involving Hardesty.
The Facebook website describes itself as a “Coalition to Save Portland” that is ‘fed up with the calm policies that are weakening the viability of our cities’. The live chat is entitled “Scandal at the city council. Guess who? ”Reynolds, who served as chairman of the Republican Party in Multnomah County for four years, did not return any messages for comment.
Hardesty said she suspects she is being attacked because she led a campaign to transform the police in Portland and claim police responsibility. “As someone who has been working on police accountability in this community for 32 years, I can tell you that it’s a normal tactic to discredit people,” she said.
Portland Police Greg Pashley said police received a report of a hit-and-run incident that occurred at 4:48 p.m. near the intersection of Southeast 148th Avenue and East Burnside Street. No quotation was issued as of Thursday morning.
“It’s an open investigation. We are still looking at it, “said sergeant. John Holbrook, who investigates hit-and-run accidents. “This is in the early stages of the investigation.”
Police Chief Chuck Lovell briefed Mayor Ted Wheeler on the investigation into the crash. Wheeler serves as the city’s police commissioner.
“There is an ongoing criminal investigation,” said Jim Middaugh, the mayor’s spokesman. “The mayor will not comment.”
– Maxine Bernstein
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