City's Response to Homelessness Questioned After Unhoused Man Killed By Drunk Driver
by • Wednesday at 5:00 pm
No one heard the crash that killed Terrence Tombe early Sunday morning. According to those camped on the same strip of land where Tombe's rain-soaked tent stood, the nearby roar of I-205 traffic seemed to block out the sounds of a Honda sedan veering off the freeway's northbound exit ramp to SE Powell, tearing into the tent where Terrence and his cat slept, and crashing into a nearby tree shortly after 3 am.
"I didn't realize what had happened until the morning," said a neighboring camper who identified himself by the name "Country." "And he was gone."
Terrence, 27, died at the scene. His cat, Marshmallow, is still missing. The driver of the car, 20-year-old April Johnson, was arrested Monday on charges of negligent homicide, driving under the influence of intoxicants, and reckless driving. Terrence is the 63rd person in Portland to be killed by someone driving a car in 2021, making Portland's annual traffic fatality toll the highest in thirty years.
Country, who called Terrence "Shorty T", described him as a quiet man who kept to himself and requested space from other campers. He recalls Terrence setting up his tent near his own after being displaced during a recent city-sanctioned camp sweep from a nearby piece of land.
It's a familiar process for those living in and around the area where SE Powell intersects with I-205 and the I-205 bike path. Some unhoused campers wonder if the city's routine sweeps in the area force vulnerable campers to relocate to more dangerous places, like the patch of land where Terrence died.
"They move us around, over and over," said a man named Iggi, who lives in a tent just north of SE Powell. "It's stressful for us. And we end up living in unsafe areas."
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