A Salem police vehicle. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
Salem police officers arrested a man accused of fleeing the scene after crashing a car into a power pole Sunday night and shutting off power for hundreds.
Police responded around 11:45 p.m. to a report of a man driving a Ford Explorer crashing into a power pole on 14th Street Southeast and Lee Street. Treven Upkes, police spokesman, said the man “walked off” from the scene.
Upkes said the crash shut off power for around 800 residences. As of 11:04 a.m., Portland General Electric said 498 customers were affected by the crash and estimated power will be restored by 3:30 p.m. Monday.
Steven Lawrence Johnson, 53, was cited for driving under the influence of intoxicants, reckless driving, failure to perform duties of a driver when property damaged, first-degree criminal mischief and three counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm, Upkes said. Johnson was released to Salem Hospital.
Upkes said police found two guns, one in the car and the other in a nearby creek.
Johnson pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and manufacturing a controlled substance in 2008 and was sentenced to 13 years and nine months in state prison.
In a separate case, he was sentenced to a year in the Marion County Jail in 2001 after pleading guilty to fourth-degree assault two years prior and violating his probation, court records show.
This post was updated to correct Portland General Electric’s name.
-Ardeshir Tabrizian
