Streetcar rear ends Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune

Show Caption Hide Caption Grand opening of the streetcar Passengers filled the Cincinnati Bell Connector for its grand opening on Friday, September 9.

The Cincinnati Bell Connector rear-ended a car Tuesday night driven by Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune.

Streetcar officials say it appears that streetcar 1176 made contact with the rear of a privately-operated motor vehicle in process of making a left turn from Main Street onto Ninth Street, which was stopped to allow a pedestrian to cross at a marked crosswalk.

The crash was considered minor, with no injuries and minimal damage to the streetcar, according to Brandy Jones, a spokeswoman for the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority, which oversees streetcar operations.

The crash remains under investigation, Jones said.

"This was a nothing incident," Portune said. "No damage. The kind of accident where both drivers would get out and determine everything was fine."

All streetcar crashes must be documented, which this one was, Jones said.

"...It's a very minor thing.," Portune said. "I'm glad nobody was injured. I don't want to make any claim."

Tuesday evening, ahead of the collision, Portune attended the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority board meeting where he implored the board to put off asking citizens to pass a transit tax this November to support the bus system.

Portune implied the SORTA board has not yet done enough work to figure out its best path forward, remarks that clearly angered some board members.

The crash happened around 7 p.m. after Portune left the SORTA meeting. He went on to attend a Hamilton County Democratic Party meeting.

After the collision, streetcar service was shut down for an investigation.

In April, Portune, who has long suffered from tumors that affected his walking, had his left leg amputated above the knee.

The left leg had been paralyzed since 2002 when tumors on Portune's spine hemorrhaged. He had walked with the aid of crutches. With the leg amputated, Portune told The Enquirer he would get a prosthetic leg.

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