A 31-year-old man died Saturday night after falling out of a moving vehicle on Interstate 84 near Cascade Locks while allegedly fighting with his girlfriend.
On Sept. 28, at approximately 9:02 p.m., a 1999 GMC Savana van with three occupants was traveling westbound on I-84 near milepost 40, approximately four miles west of Cascade Locks. The van’s driver, Austin Monroe Herd, 31, was allegedly involved in a physical altercation with right front passenger/girlfriend Nicole Quintana, 30, when the van traveled to the left side of the traffic lanes and collided with a guardrail. Herd, who was not using safety restraints, fell out of the moving van through the driver’s open door onto the ground and was critically injured. Quintana then stopped the van without further incident.
OSP troopers from the Portland Area Command office, Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office deputies, and Oregon Department of Transportation personnel responded to the scene. OSP detectives are assisting investigating troopers.
Herd was pronounced deceased at the scene. Closer examination of the van’s driver door showed it was secured by a bungee cord stretched from the interior door handle to the steering column. The temporary repair was in place because of a door malfunction preventing it from being closed and secured.
Quintana and a second passenger, Jessy R. Walters, 18, were transported to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland for a medical evaluation and no injury was found on either person because of the crash. Quintana did have minor injuries consistent with being involved in a physical altercation before the crash.
Herd, Quintana and Walters, a family friend, were en route from Galveston, Texas, to Portland to move in with Herd’s relative. Herd previously has lived in northeast Portland.
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