(Bryan Brenize -- The Beacon)
By Rosemary Peters, Editor-in-Chief -- peters12@up.edu
Portland Police continue to seek leads in the homicide of a bicyclist who died near campus last fall.
"There is nothing new on the case," Portland Police Bureau detective Bryan Steed told The Beacon.
According to police, on Nov. 4, 2009, Portland musician Kipp Crawford was cycling eastbound on North Willamette Boulevard near Hodge Avenue at 2:30 a.m. Somehow, he was thrown into the westbound lane and hit by two drunk drivers.
Steed calls the Crawford case an "unusual one."
Initially, investigators considered the case a DUII traffic incident. But a few months later, the police changed their assessment and ruled it a homicide. They now believe that prior to being hit by the cars, Crawford was the victim of a robbery or assault.
"It is an unusual case because of the fact there was an initial altercation that left him in the road, and it was drunk drivers that caused the fatality," Steed said.
Because Portland Police did not rule the case a homicide until Feb. 2010, the crime did not appear in the current Crime and Fire Report.
"It was first reported as a hit and run — not a homicide until 2010," Burke-Sivers said. "In order to change a crime category, the police have to rule it. We will add that in this year's (2010) statistics."
White bicycles can be found around the city of Portland memorializing the deaths of cyclists. This particular bike, located on the corner of Haven and Willamette is in memory of the death of Kipp Crawford. (Bryan Brenize -- The Beacon)
