Multnomah County District Attorney Rod Underhill announced that 22-year-old Michael Lee Morinville received a 28 month prison sentence for stealing a semi-truck and crashing it into a Portland Police patrol SUV as officers attempted to take him into custody.
This investigation started on April 21, 2019 when a Portland Police officer was dispatched to the intersection of Northeast 33rd Avenue and Northeast Argyle Street after receiving information about an abandoned a vehicle. The officer arrived and determined the vehicle was registered to a person living in Beaverton, Oregon. The vehicle’s owner told police the last person known to be driving his vehicle was Morinville.
As the officer was finishing her initial investigation, she saw someone frantically waiving and yelling at her. The officer contacted the person and learned someone, later identified as Morinville, had gotten inside the semi and attempted to drive away.
“Fortunately, the actual driver of the semi immediately recognized what was about to happen and disconnected the break line leading from his semi to the attached trailer,” said Multnomah County Deputy District Attorney Michael Lee, who prosecuted this case. “This prevented the semi from being able to reach more than a few miles per hour.”
As officers attempted to contact Morinville, he continued to drive away.
An officer approached the semi and smashed out the passenger side window to remove Morinville from the vehicle after he drove into a Portland Police patrol SUV on two occasions. No officers were injured during the impacts.
“At no point did Mr. Morinville attempt to stop the semi as he drove forward into the Portland Police vehicle,” said DDA Lee. “We later learned that the engine was revving was so loud, the officers could barely hear each other yelling.”
On July 3, 2019, Morinville appeared in Multnomah County Circuit Court and was convicted upon changing his plea to one count of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and one count of driving under the influence of intoxicants.
As part of the plea agreement, which was approved by the court, Morinville will have to pay $2,500 in restitution to the semi-truck driver, $8,419.70 to the City of Portland and will be on one year of post-prison supervision. His driving privileges will be suspended for one year.
Source: Multnomah County District Attorney