A man from St. Helens was found guilty on Wednesday of assault and reckless driving in connection with a 2023 speeding accident in Portland that left his brother gravely hurt.
On May 27, 2023, 39-year-old Ivan Yankovelich Savitskiy was traveling on Marine Drive at around 140 miles per hour when he was struck by another vehicle. Savitskiy struck a streetlight post and then a tree after swerving away from the other vehicle.
According to court documents, his brother, Andrey Savitskiy, who was in the vehicle with him, experienced brain hemorrhage and edema that resulted in speech and cognitive problems that lasted following the collision.
According to court documents, Ivan Savitskiy was found guilty of both reckless driving and second-degree assault. According to Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office prosecutor Branden Meadows, he faces a minimum sentence of 70 months. The date of Savitskiy’s sentencing is March 17.
Regarding the conviction, Meadows stated, “This office takes it seriously if you get caught (street racing) on Marine Drive, and we’ll prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.” The goal is to convey the message that the city’s residents are tired of this and that we will no longer put up with it.
Calls from The Oregonian/OregonLive were not immediately answered by Ivan or Andrey Savitskiy.
When police got to the scene soon after the collision, they discovered the area covered in car debris. According to Meadows, the engine block was thrown by the force of the collision and discovered on the opposite side of the road.
Ivan Savitskiy managed to extract himself from the wreckage despite having a fractured leg.
His brother was seriously hurt and stuck in the automobile. He had to be intubated when paramedics took him to a nearby hospital, where doctors discovered a brain bleed, according to Meadows.
The car’s engine block was thrown out of the vehicle in the collision, sending it flying over Marine Drive and onto the opposite side of the street.The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office provided this image.
According to court documents, physicians first thought Andrey Savitskiy had a 50/50 chance of surviving because of how bad his condition was. According to court documents, Andrey Savitskiy lived, but he has had difficulty recovering from his injuries.
Ivan Savitskiy told police he was merely out cruising that night and believed he was traveling at 60 mph when the collision occurred during his hospital interview.
However, data recovered from the vehicle’s data recorder provided a different account, according to case lead investigator Chase Fullington.
Investigators discovered after downloading the data that Savitskiy had pressed the car’s accelerator to its limit and that the vehicle was traveling at 141.9 mph five seconds before to the collision. According to court documents, the car was traveling at 136 mph in the final seconds before impact, and Savitskiy applied the brakes three seconds prior to the collision.
Fullington told reporters that he had looked at more than 100 fatal collisions, many of which occurred on Marine Drive. There isn’t another instance that comes to mind where we downloaded data from the airbag control module and the speed exceeded 141 miles per hour.
Illegal racing is common on Northeast Portland’s long, level Marine Drive.
In recent years, street racing—including large-scale racing events or street takeovers—has been a persistent issue for Portland officials.A bill that strengthened penalties for street racers and gave law enforcement the authority to seize cars involved in street racing was signed into law by Governor Tina Kotek in June 2023.
Fullington went on to say that the only reason Ivan and Andrey Savitskiy escaped their May 2023 collision was because their vehicle narrowly avoided colliding with the tree.
According to Fullington, there is no question that this would have been a fatal collision if the center of gravity had been only a foot or two north of the actual hit site. Both residents are very fortunate that it wasn’t worse given how everything turned out.
This report was aided by Zane Sparling.
Crime, public safety, and local news are all topics covered by breaking news reporter Tatum Todd. You can contact them at 503-221-4313 or [email protected].
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