Suspect held after hit-and-run wheelchair crash
05:19 PM PST on Thursday, November 29, 2007
A 51-year-old man arrested for Wednesday morning's hit-and-run crash on Highway 99E, which killed a wheelchair-bound woman, appeared in court Thursday.
KGW photo
Suspect Rafael Avelino Gines
Rafael Avelino Gines was charged with felony hit-and-run and held on $250,000 bail. Authorities said there were also possible immigration issues.
Mary Denise Richey, 40, was in a wheelchair after getting off a Tri-Met bus and was struck at about 6 a.m. while attempting to cross Highway 99E south of Boardman Avenue.
Richey was dragged approximately 100 feet in her wheelchair, said Oregon State Police Lieutenant Gregg Hastings.
She was transported to Oregon Health Sciences University Hospital, where she died about an hour later.
The driver of the van was last seen southbound on Highway 99E.
Also: Hit-and-run driver crashes into tow truck in Wash.
Conditions were foggy and dark at the time of the crash, Hastings said.
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