Portland — The driver of a Toyota 4Runner SUV that fishtailed into a cyclist and killed him on the St. Johns Bridge repeatedly cried, grimaced and shook his head Thursday as he asked a judge to lower his bail.
Joel Aaron Schrantz, 42, hoped the judge would reduce his bail from $250,000 to $20,000 so he could afford to post 10 percent and get out of jail pending trial for second-degree manslaughter. He has pleaded not guilty.
Schrantz is the rare driver accused of killing someone with recklessness not because he was drunk or high, but because he drove knowing his SUV was in bad shape. The treads on Schrantz’s tires were nearly bald, police said.
Multnomah County Circuit Judge Christopher Marshall refused to lower Schrantz’s bail, saying he poses a “huge community safety risk” because he might drive again even though the state suspended his driver’s license years ago.
On Oct. 29, Schrantz repeatedly fishtailed before swerving into oncoming traffic, striking and killing cyclist Mitchell T. York, police said.
Schrantz told the judge he was sorry for what happened, but he was surprised to find himself in criminal court. It’s what happens to people on TV, he said.
Earlier in the hearing, Schrantz crumpled his face and shook his head as Deputy District Attorney Elisabeth Waner presented her case. Waner said that Schrantz’s driver’s license was first suspended for a year for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle at age 18.
Waner said Schrantz apparently hadn’t reinstated his license over the past 20 years because of his habit of driving while suspended, getting towed and racking up expensive tickets.
Schrantz admitted to receiving 30 to 40 tickets for driving with a suspended license since the mid-1990s, according to court papers.
“It was just cheaper for him to go out and buy a new vehicle rather than pay the towing costs … and tickets,” Waner said.
The prosecutor said Schrantz chuckled as he spoke to Portland police about his driving history.
Schrantz and his wife had talked about the dangerous condition of the tires on his latest purchase — the Toyota 4Runner, Waner said. His wife told him a week before the crash that he needed to replace them, she said.
“His wife was so concerned by the way the vehicle had been operating in the slick rain that even she didn’t want to get into the car with him,” Waner said. “She knew it would fishtail.”
