A driver is dead after crashing into a utility pole in Southeast Portland while trying to evade a patrol car Friday morning, the Portland Police Bureau said.

An officer spotted two cars “driving recklessly” near Southeast 119 th Avenue and Division Street at 2:57 a.m. and headed after them, police said. “But both vehicles eluded eastbound on Division before the officer even activated emergency lights.”

The officer soon came upon one of the cars on the side of the road, having smashed into a utility pole. The driver, apparently the only one who was in the car at the time of the crash, was dead, police said.

The driver of the other car did not stop and has not been found.

The person who died has not been publicly identified.

While it’s not entirely clear what was going on Friday morni

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