Teen suffers life-threatening injuries after tire iron thrown into moving car in Portland
By Web staff
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PORTLAND, Oregon (KPTV) — A 13-year-old boy was hospitalized Saturday after a tire iron was thrown into a moving car and struck him in the head in southeast Portland.
At about 7 p.m., Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a local hospital after the report of a patient who had arrived by private vehicle with possibly life-threatening injuries. The sheriff’s office notified Portland police about a possible crime scene near the 12000 block of Southeast Foster Road, according to the Portland Police Bureau.
According to police, their investigation determined that the boy, identified by his family as Jamari Woodard, was “seriously injured’ after a tire iron was thrown into a moving car that he was sitting in.
The Major Crimes Unit of the Portland Police Department are still investigating what happened and have released few details, but a family spokesperson said the boy, Jamari Woodard, was injured at a parking lot on Foster Road.
Jamari’s family said a bystander took the teen to a nearby hospital in their private car. From there, he was air lifted to Doernbecher Children’s Hospital.
Jamari’s great-grandmother Mae Warren-Kofi said he was having seizures on his way to the hospital.
“He’s just like everybody else’s child, they get out there with their little friends. Oh yeah, they may get into little things, but Jamari is not a mean person he’s a very happy go lucky guy,” Warren-Kofi said. “I talk to him, and I said ‘grandma loves you’ and I turn to walk away and he put his hand up. He has good mobility on his left side, not so good on the right side.”
Jamari’s 14th birthday is in July but there will be long road to recovery for him.
On Tuesday, his family posted on Facebook that his neck brace had been removed and he was in stable condition.
“We’ve gotta keep asking God to heal him and let him come out and be a normal child,” Warren-Kofi said. “He shouldn’t have to be robbed of his childhood.”
Portland police have not made any arrests and said they will not be releasing any further details at this time. They are also asking anyone with information about the incident to contact Detective Brett Hawkinson at brett.hawkinson@police.portlandoregon.gov with the Major Crimes Unit, or e-mail crimetips@police.portlandoregon.gov and reference case number 23-166081.
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