Family mourns Army veteran killed in wrong-way crash on I-5 in Portland
By DREW MARINE
Click here for updates on this story
PORTLAND, Oregon (KPTV) — 34-year-old Salvador Manuel Rodriguez-Lopez was a veteran who served in the Army for seven years.
“He suffered a hip injury, so he was honorably discharged,” his niece, Jennifer Quiroz, said.
The outgoing veteran was also a father to three young kids and Quiroz said he had big plans for his future.
“He decided to go back to school. He was majoring in biology, and he even had a dream of opening his own flower shop. He was a very good person, happy all the time, I never saw him mad.” Quiroz said. “He was always there, always loud. It’s like a piece is missing now.”
Rodriguez-Lopez just celebrated his birthday on Christmas Eve. Then, on January 2, his life was cut short.
Portland Police said just after 11:20 p.m. Sunday night they responded to reports of a car driving the wrong way on I-5 near South Macadam Avenue.
Police said Rodriguez-Lopez was found dead and the other driver, 40-year-old Amr Elzagh, was taken to the hospital. PPB said he’s facing several charges, including DUII.
“We’re doing a little better now. We’re still in disbelief, you know, it’s kind of hard still to process it. We just did his burial this weekend so, we’re hanging in there,” Quiroz said.
While Elzagh is facing charges, Rodriguez-Lopez’s family now wants the community to do their part to make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else.
“It just takes one decision, you know, not to drink and drive. This could have all been preventable,” she said. “Not only does one person suffer, a lot of people suffer.”
Elzagh’s arraignment is set for February 3.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
