Newly released dashcam footage showed multiple angles of a raging Portland man speeding past road blockades in his pickup truck and barreling through the city's Rose Festival’s Grand Floral parade route.
Terrified parade attendees could be seen jumping out of the way, fearing for their lives.
The 42-year-old driver, Sidney Mecham, pleaded not guilty after he was indicted in June on 38 counts, including felony unlawful use of a weapon and attempting to elude an officer.
Multnomah County Circuit Judge Judith Matarazzo granted the city's motion to keep Mecham locked up while he awaits trial.
At the start of the video, obtained through a public records request, Mecham was on the phone with a caller who yelled in frustration about the road closures.
At one point, Mecham lost it and shouted obscenities at Oregon Department of Transportation workers who were setting up cones on the highway to block the exit to the parade route.
He then plowed past parked service trucks blocking the exit and nearly tipped over his vehicle driving sideways on an embankment to get onto the restricted road.
He continued to drive recklessly onto the parade route where police officers said people were "in danger of being struck."
Mecham ran through red traffic lights and also ignored a motorcycle cop who made multiple attempts to get him to pull over. The cop eventually stopped his attempt for fear of being hit.
The 30-minute video ends with Mecham driving steadily through a residential area and pulling over on Northeast 24th Avenue and Clackamas Street.
He was reportedly arrested shortly thereafter.
Here is the full video.
Extended dashcam video: Portland man plows through Grand Floral Parade barricadesyoutu.be
Shorter clips were shared on X (formerly Twitter), where users were gobsmacked after watching the unhinged driver committing several traffic violations in succession.
it\u2019s really awesome that someone this insane was using a dash cam. like what was he hoping to capture besides his own insanity— (@)
KGW reported that Mecham was driving on a suspended license with no insurance, according to a police report. He is also a registered sex offender.
Court records showed that Mecham has been in and out of prison and juvenile detention since he was 15 on sex abuse convictions against minors.
He is currently held in Multnomah County Inverness Jail without a trial date for charges related to the June road rage incident.
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