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A woman and man believed to be the parents of young boy struck by a car on Southeast 82nd Avenue on Thursday morning describe what happened to a police interpreter.

(Joseph Rose/The Oregonian)

A 10-year-old boy suffered traumatic injuries after being struck by car in a Southeast 82nd Avenue crosswalk on Thursday morning.

Portland police said the collision happened near 82nd Avenue's intersection with Center Street about 11:30 a.m. and the young boy was reportedly conscious when he taken by ambulance to a hospital.



He was reported in critical condition four hours later.

The 58-year-old woman behind the wheel of the Honda Civic that struck the boy remained at the scene and was cooperating with traffic investigators, said Portland police Sgt. Pete Simpson.

The collision closed Southeast 82nd Avenue from Holgate to Powell boulevards for more than two hours.

Officers enclosed the crash scene with yellow crime tape. Inside the perimeter, members of the child's family sobbed and wailed with grief as they attempted to recount what happened for investigators at a crosswalk island. A woman believed to be the boy's grandmother carried another young child on her back.

Simpson said there was a language barrier and an interpreter was called to the scene. Neither speed nor alcohol appear to be factors in the crash, Simpson said. No citations have been issued.

Witnesses said the young boy was with adults believed to be his grandparents as they crossed from the east side of 82nd Avenue to the west side using the crosswalk. The group was half way across the busy four-lane thoroughfare when they stopped on a median island with flashing crossing beacons to wait for southbound traffic to stop, police and witnesses said.

"No one was holding the little boy's hand," said TriMet bus driver Ken Ruffner, who was on a break and driving his personal vehicle northbound. "He just ran out into traffic. The driver didn't have any time at all to respond."

Ruffner identified a Honda Civic behind the crime tape as the southbound car that hit the child. Witnesses said the force of the collision sent the child flying into the air.

He said employees of a nearby fireworks stand waving signs in the median may have prevented the driver from seeing the family.

However, Cindy ReSue, 17, one of two teenagers dressed as Uncle Sam and waving signs to advertise the TNT Fireworks stand in the median, said the crosswalk's beacon lights were flashing and the driver had time to stop. "It didn't even slow down" approaching the crosswalk, she said.

The collision happened just a couple feet from where she was standing.

"The little boy took two steps out into the road and got hit by a gray Honda going about 35 mph, rolled over the top of the car and landed in the street two feet in front of me," ReSue said.

At first, it appeared the boy wasn't breathing, she said.

Simpsons said the first officer on the scene performed CPR.

When paramedics arrived, ReSue said, they "did some more work on him. And before he left the scene, he was crying. So, he was awake and they said he was doing way better."

-- Joseph Rose