WIlliam Offinga’s booking photo from Washington County Sheriff’s Office
HILLSIDE – A hit and run involving a cyclist and a driver who fled the scene in Hillside has resulted in the arrest of WIlliam Offinga, a Forest Grove-area resident on the afternoon of Thursday, May 16.
Witnesses say that around 2 p.m on Saturday, May 11., the driver of a Mercedes convertible struck a male cyclist who had stopped to read a map on the shoulder of Hillside Road near the NW Clapshaw Hill Road intersection in the community of Hillside.
The cyclist was knocked to the ground and left bleeding from the leg, with his clothing torn.
The driver left the scene without attempting to stop and check on the cyclist, according to the media release, giving the injured cyclist “the finger” as he drove away.
The sheriff’s office says that the same suspect was seen driving recklessly, swerving into oncoming lanes of traffic, nearly running a motorcyclist off the road on NW Old Clapshaw Hill Road.
The suspect was also seen driving recklessly, swerving into oncoming lanes of traffic.
Offinga was booked into the Washington County Jail on one count of reckless driving, and one count of felony hit and run.
According to a media release from the sheriff’s office, several tips eventually led detectives to Offinga’s residence, where a search warrant led to a vehicle—with damage consistent with a crash— that matched the description from witnesses to the hit and run incident.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office extended thanks to those who offered information leading to the arrest of Offinga.
Chas Hundley is the editor of the Gales Creek Journal and sister news publications the Banks Post and the Salmonberry Magazine. He grew up in Gales Creek and has a cat.
