Portland attorney jailed on criminally negligent homicide charge in Redmond fatal hit-and-run car-motorcycle crash
Suspect ticketed for speeding 88 mph earlier same day; victim's sister: 'He's going to be held accountable'
REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) – An attorney and former Terrebonne resident was arrested Wednesday near his Portland home, charged with criminally negligent homicide in a June 2023 hit-and-run crash in Redmond that claimed the life of a Redmond motorcyclist.
Peter Michael Lamb, 48, is accused of driving a Dodge pickup that struck a southbound motorcycle operated by Johnny Phillips, 61, just before 11 p.m. on June 8th, 2023 on U.S. Highway 97 near the intersection with NW Larch Avenue, Redmond Police Lieutenant Eric Beckwith said.
Lamb then left the scene without rendering aid or calling to report the crash, Beckwith said. Redmond Fire & Rescue medics took Phillips to the hospital, where he later died of his injuries.
Redmond Police had sought information from the public and surveillance video from homes and businesses to help identify and find the driver.
Beckwith said Lamb was being transported back to the Deschutes County Jail in Bend to face the criminally negligent homicide charge, a Class B felony.
Court records show that earlier the day of the deadly crash, around 6:30 a.m., Lamb was ticketed for speeding at 88 mph on Highway 97 in a 55 mph zone on Jefferson County. About two weeks later, he pleaded no contest to violating the basic speed rule and was fined $340.
In 2021, while living in Portland, Lamb got a citation and pleaded no contest to speeding in a 2019 Audi, going 48 mph in a 35 mph zone on the east end of the Morrison Bridge, and was fined $170, court records show. He also pleaded no contest in 2018 after getting a ticket for going 51 mph in a 40 mph zone in a 2017 Audi and was fined $170.
Online records indicate Lamb is a lawyer in the business field, registered with the Oregon State Bar since 2016 and the State Bar of California since 2005, where a Madras business office address is listed.
Phillips’ sister, Jeanie Holly, spoke with NewsChannel 21’s Bola Gbadebo last year about her brother, saying she could always depend on him to be there, for her and others, who “would help people, anybody with whatever they needed.”
Reached by NewsChannel 21 on Wednesday evening, Holly said she had been kept well apprised of the investigation and process that led to Lamb’s arrest.
“It’s very emotional,” she said. “I knew it (the arrest) was coming last week.”
The pain of losing her brother is still there, Holly said, but the suspect’s arrest means “he’s going to be held accountable."
“We are so grateful to the Redmond Police Department. They kept us informed, and they worked diligently, and they figured out who did it.
“It took a long time for the district attorney’s office to get all the documentation they needed. They kept us updated – if we reached out, they reached back. I knew they were going to grand jury.”
She also said the Victims' Assistance program in the DA’s office helped out, so that along with a fundraising page, funeral expenses were covered.
Holly expressed gratitude for the support in the community from those who saw Gbadebo’s story about the loss of her brother: “They’d see me and would just come and give me a hug.”
Beckwith wrote, "The Redmond Police Department extends its appreciation to the Oregon State Police Crime Lab and the Portland Police Bureau for their assistance with this investigation."
