Teh One Who Knocks
11-26-2012, 12:18 PM
Victoria Edwards, The Oregonian
http://i.imgur.com/4kNvZ.jpg
A Beaverton man was arrested for drunk driving Saturday just a few hours after he dangled from an overpass above Highway 217 in his pickup truck.
Beaverton Police say Matthew Alan Hamilton, 38, had a blood alcohol content of .50 percent -- more than six times the legal limit. He will be taken to the Washington County Jail once he’s released from the hospital.
Hamilton was arrested for driving under the influence of intoxicants and driving with a suspended license, which stemmed from a previous DUII charge.
Hamilton dangled from the overpass at Southwest Denney Way in Beaverton for nearly an hour Saturday afternoon before crews from Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue got him out of the pickup. The wheels of the truck caught a guardrail and seemingly kept it from falling head-on to the ground below.
Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue Battalion Chief Scott Steiner said he's dealt with similar type accidents before, but they're rare calls. He said rescue crews made a system of ropes and pulls to bring Hamilton to safety.
They were able to get Hamilton out by first securing the truck to a fire engine using ropes and chains to keep it from falling. They then used another engine stationed below the overpass that had a basket at the end of a ladder to get Hamilton back to solid ground.
"We go straight into a functional mode at the scene," Steiner said. "When I got home, I thought 'wow that was challenging'."
TVF&R crews are trained in vehicle extrication, and there were around 25 crew members on scene.
The crash shut down the highway for several hours and as of 7:30 p.m. one of the southbound lanes is still closed to traffic.
A crane was brought in to remove the truck.
http://i.imgur.com/4kNvZ.jpg
A Beaverton man was arrested for drunk driving Saturday just a few hours after he dangled from an overpass above Highway 217 in his pickup truck.
Beaverton Police say Matthew Alan Hamilton, 38, had a blood alcohol content of .50 percent -- more than six times the legal limit. He will be taken to the Washington County Jail once he’s released from the hospital.
Hamilton was arrested for driving under the influence of intoxicants and driving with a suspended license, which stemmed from a previous DUII charge.
Hamilton dangled from the overpass at Southwest Denney Way in Beaverton for nearly an hour Saturday afternoon before crews from Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue got him out of the pickup. The wheels of the truck caught a guardrail and seemingly kept it from falling head-on to the ground below.
Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue Battalion Chief Scott Steiner said he's dealt with similar type accidents before, but they're rare calls. He said rescue crews made a system of ropes and pulls to bring Hamilton to safety.
They were able to get Hamilton out by first securing the truck to a fire engine using ropes and chains to keep it from falling. They then used another engine stationed below the overpass that had a basket at the end of a ladder to get Hamilton back to solid ground.
"We go straight into a functional mode at the scene," Steiner said. "When I got home, I thought 'wow that was challenging'."
TVF&R crews are trained in vehicle extrication, and there were around 25 crew members on scene.
The crash shut down the highway for several hours and as of 7:30 p.m. one of the southbound lanes is still closed to traffic.
A crane was brought in to remove the truck.