News Release from: Clackamas Co. Sheriff's Office

Early morning single-vehicle crash in Clackamas County leaves driver in critical condition

Posted: Nov. 14, 2009, 2:26 p.m.

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CCSO CASE # 09-34850

At 1:40 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009, a single-vehicle crash occurred in the 25000 block of South Beavercreek Road (between S. Hereford Road and S. Heft Loop Road) in Beavercreek.

A resident in the area informed dispatchers that an injured male subject came to her door and alerted her about a crash that had just occurred. The male subject also said his father remained trapped -- unconscious -- in the crashed vehicle.

Clackamas County Sheriff's Office deputies and rescue personnel from Beavercreek Fire, American Medical Response (AMR) and LifeFlight responded to aid the injured and investigate the crash.

Deputies report that a blue 1994 Lincoln two-door sedan is believed to have been traveling southbound on Beavercreek Road when it failed to negotiate a posted 25 mph curve. This vehicle is then believed to have departed the roadway at between 67-68 mph -- striking a tree situated on the east side of the roadway.

(Crash photos are linked above.)

Beavercreek Fire personnel were able to extricate the driver from the vehicle. The driver is identified as Stephen D. Pitard, age 47; LifeFlight airlifted this patient to Oregon Health & Science University Hospital in Portland.

Stephen Pitard had reportedly just recently returned to Oregon from Florida, where he had been residing. He remains hospitalized -- and is in critical condition with massive head injuries.

The passenger (and son of the driver) is identified as Shayne A. Pitard, age 23, who resides on South Lower Highland Road, in Beavercreek. Shayne Pitard was able to exit the crashed vehicle and walk to a residence to summon help. Shayne Pitard was then transported by an AMR ambulance to OHSU Hospital, where he was being treated for a non-life threatening head injury sustained in the crash.

Alcohol and speed are considered contributing factors in the crash.

[END]

Contact Info: Jim Strovink, Detective