Portland police have identified a fatal crash victim, who was reportedly driving the wrong way on northbound Interstate 5 early Tuesday morning, as a Vancouver resident.
Damian Asher Alexander, 45, died as a result of the two-vehicle crash on the freeway around 3:45 a.m., according to a Portland Police Bureau statement.
Officers responded to the crash on northbound I-5 just north of Oregon Route 99W, after receiving several reports of a wrong-way driver, the statement says. They arrived and determined the involved vehicles were occupied solely by drivers.
“Lifesaving measures were attempted on one of the drivers without success,” police said.
Alexander was pronounced dead at the scene. The other adult male driver was taken to a hospital but expected to survive. Police said an initial investigation shows that Alexander was the wrong-way driver.
The crash marks the 36th fatality investigated by the police bureau’s traffic division this year.
Anyone with information about or who witnessed the crash is asked to contact Officer Chris Johnson at 503-823-2213 or at Chris.Johnson@portlandoregon.gov.
As a result of the fatal crash, a secondary crash happened with another vehicle that pulled off the freeway at the next exit. That driver was uninjured and suffered only minor damage to their vehicle.
