Man arrested Monday after walking into I-5 traffic

  • Published: 11/2/2009 5:40:11 PM
A Portland man was arrested Monday after walking into traffic on Interstate-5 near Woodburn.
 
At 11:59 a.m. Monday, Deputy Jeff Nicoloff of the Marion County Sheriff’s Office was traveling southbound on Interstate-5 just north of Woodburn when he observed a man walk from the shoulder of the road into the center lane, stop, and start waving his arms.
 
Nicoloff watched as a semi-truck driver locked up his brakes to avoid hitting the man, Joseph Fruichantie, 28, of Portland, an MCSO press release said. Several other vehicles had to take action to avoid hitting the man or the vehicles slowing in his vicinity.
 
Nicoloff made contact with Fruichantie, who was intoxicated and uncooperative, and escorted him to safety. The man was then taken into custody.
 
Fruichantie told authorities he was riding with a friend from Portland when the friend pulled over to the side of the road and kicked him and his belongings from the vehicle. Fruichantie called 9-1-1 and asked police to come help him, but when things didn’t proceed as quickly as he wanted, he walked into traffic to speed up their response.
 
Oregon State Police were responding to the call and attempting to locate Fruichantie when he walked into traffic. The Portland man was arrested for disorderly conduct and transported to the Marion County Jail.
 
“Fruichante's actions could have caused a very serious crash and this could have turned out much worse,” MCSO Commander Eric Hlad said in the release. “Deputy Nicoloff was in the right place at the right time and did a good job taking the situation into control.”
 
A little up the road, a Beaverton pedestrian was killed Friday night while attempting to cross Interstate-5 in Wilsonville. Theodore Michael Bennett, 45, was walking southbound on the west shoulder of the freeway when he attempted to cross the three southbound lanes and was hit by a 2009 Toyota SXD driven by Sean McLeary, 31, of Portland. Bennett was pronounced dead at the scene. The Wilsonville Spokesman reported on the story.

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