UPDATE: 6 p.m. Monday, April 3:
The Keizer Police Department will not confirm whether a citation – a public record – has been issued to a federal drug enforcement agent who police say struck and killed a bicyclist last Tuesday, March 28, while on duty.
Keizer police spokesman Trevor Wenning said Monday afternoon that the department does not disclose citations until an investigation is completed. Wenning said he did not know how long the agency’s investigation of the fatal collision would continue.
Original story below:
The driver who struck and killed a bicyclist Tuesday in Salem’s South Gateway neighborhood was a federal drug enforcement agent on duty at the time, the Salem Police Department has announced Friday afternoon – three days after the accident.
The police agency said in a news release that it has asked the Keizer Police Department to investigate the fatal crash because the Salem police and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency “have a long-established partnership through a task force.”
Marganne Allen, 53, was cycling south on High Street approaching Leslie Street when Samuel Landis, a special agent in the Salem office of the DEA, drove into the intersection and crossed her path, the Salem police said in its original news release on Wednesday, March 29.
The DEA did not respond to emailed questions Wednesday to confirm whether the driver was their employee and whether he was on duty at the time of the accident.
Allen was the program manager for the state’s Agricultural Water Quality program, according to the Oregon Department of Agriculture website.
A vigil was held for Allen Friday evening at the scene of the collision, with about 25 people attending.
Officers responded around 3:45 p.m. on Tuesday, March 28, to a report of a bicyclist struck by a pickup truck at the intersection of Southeast Leslie and High Streets, near Bush’s Pasture Park, according to the department’s original news release.
Police determined that Allen was riding south on High Street approaching Leslie Street. Landis headed east into the intersection and crossed the cyclist’s path, resulting in a crash, the release said.
Allen suffered critical injuries and was taken to Salem Hospital, where she later died.
Landis, 37, was not injured. He stayed on scene and was cooperating with the investigation, according to the department’s release.
Police have not announced any citations or arrests as of Friday.
The intersection was closed for around four hours as police investigated the collision. The department said in a tweet shortly before 8 p.m. Tuesday that the road was back open without providing details about the accident.
Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053.
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Ardeshir Tabrizian has covered criminal justice and housing for Salem Reporter since September 2021. As an Oregon native, his award-winning watchdog journalism has traversed the state. He has done reporting for The Oregonian, Eugene Weekly and Malheur Enterprise.
