MEDIA RELEASE
SPRINGFIELD POLICE DEPARTMENT
Incident: Traffic crash with fatality
Location: Martin Luther King Jr Parkway / Cardinal Way
Case Number: 26-0629
Date/Time: 01-29-2026 / 4:45 am
More Information: Community Information Coordinator, spdpio@springfield-or.gov
Completed By: Sgt. Del Castillo
NARRATIVE OF INCIDENT:
On January 29th, 2026, at about 4:45 am the Springfield Police Department responded to a reported traffic hazard on Martin Luther King Jr Parkway, in front of Riverbend hospital. The initial caller indicated a man had tried to jump in front of her vehicle. The caller advised they were able to swerve around the person, but they were worried this was an intentional act by the subject. The first officer arrived on scene within two minutes of the call to find a deceased man in the roadway, and a vehicle stopped nearby.
The initial investigation indicates the deceased man was intentionally placing himself in front of vehicles on the roadway. The vehicle that struck the pedestrian was not the original caller. That driver remained on scene and is cooperating with the investigation.
The department’s Major Accident Investigation Team (MAIT) is investigating the crash. The name of the deceased is being withheld pending family notification.
