Raging Portland driver rips through rose parade in furious video

Newly released dashcam footage shows a seething Portland man driving his Chevy through a crowded parade, sending revelers at the city’s annual Rose Festival running for cover before evading police.

Due to a shortage of public defenders in Oregon, his former defense attorney, Chris Howard, told Fox News Digital 42-year-old Sidney Mecham has been waiting for new counsel since August. 

The video was released into court records during an August hearing to extend Mecham’s preventative detention granted by Multnomah County Circuit Judge Judith Matarazzo. 

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Mecham has remained in Inverness Jail in Northeast Portland since the June 10 incident on 38 charges, including felonies for attempted assault, multiple counts of unlawful use of a weapon, attempted assault on a police officer and attempting to elude law enforcement by vehicle, according to charges obtained by Fox News Digital from the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office. 

Each of 17 unlawful use of a weapon counts corresponds with one person nearly hit by the man’s Chevy Avalanche, according to the charges.

The video shows Mecham “nearly collid[ing] with dozens of pedestrians, including small children, along the parade route,” prosecutors wrote in a probable cause affidavit. “Panic is visible in the pedestrians who scream and scatter as Mecham’s vehicle continues onward toward them.”

Mecham has pleaded not guilty to all of these charges, according to the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office. KGW8 reported that his previous attorney argued at his first court appearance that Mecham was “disoriented and trying to get through a difficult situation” while he drove recklessly through the parade.

According to the outlet, he was also driving without insurance and with a suspended license. 

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He also faces a series of traffic violations for other infractions caught on his own forward, rearview and internal dash cameras, like rolling through stop signs and red lights, careening through construction sites and speeding.

Mecham’s lengthy prior criminal history includes traffic violations and sex crimes, per the Oregon State Police Sex Offender Registry. His first sex-related charges date back to 1996. In 1999, he was convicted of attempted first-degree rape and attempted first-degree sodomy, per the registry. In 2016, he was convicted of third-degree sodomy and third-degree sexual abuse. 

Previously, he has been cited for driving uninsured, speeding and making an unlawful turn, per court records. 

“They’ve got it all blocked off! The Lloyd Center exit! The convention center exit! Every motherf—— exit!” Mecham screams, punctuated by honks and profanity, according to footage from inside his vehicle June 10 reviewed by Fox News Digital. 

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Meanwhile, thousands were gathering along a two-mile parade route for the city’s annual Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade. 

Front-facing dashcam footage captures Mecham blowing through traffic cones, clipping signs warning of the parade ahead, then driving over a curb and onto a grassy road shoulder on Broadway-Weidler Street around 10 a.m., per court documents detailing the events of the footage. 

“F– you!” Mecham screams at roadside workers, repeatedly brandishing his middle finger. 

At one point, Mecham receives a call and screams into his phone that he is “on [his] way to the f—ing Rose Garden” to meet the caller and his mother. It is unclear exactly what venue or event he was late for.

After crashing through a set of Oregon Department of Transportation barriers, Mecham drives directly into the parade route, where children playing with clowns are sent running for cover. 

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His car’s bass can be heard thumping to a song by Alabama rapper Yelawolf as he continues driving, ignoring cries to stop. Police sirens join the cacophony. 

“I thought any minute someone was going to get hit,” a witness told local outlet KOIN. “Little kids were running out in the middle of the road grabbing candy. Then, all of a sudden, probably about two blocks down … I believe it was a gray pickup truck come barreling down the street.

“We think he was going about 30 mph,” the witness continued. “Everyone was screaming and running to get their kids.”

Officer David Baer steered his motorcycle into Mecham’s path after the driver turned onto Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. 

“Armed police, stop!” the officer yelled, making eye contact with Mecham, per the man’s arrest affidavit.

Although the officer motioned for Mecham to pull over, Mecham accelerated instead. 

 

“I’m trying to get out of here,” Mecham yells as he does so, the footage shows. 

The driver displaced chairs and barricades as he sped away down Northeast Wasco Street, sending families sitting along the curb diving for cover. 

At one point, a road worker pulls a traffic cone out of Mecham’s path and nearly gets hit in the process, according to the prosecutors’ memo. 

When Mecham got caught at a light in traffic, an officer attempted to pull him over, but Mecham kept on driving. 

Finally, he pulled over near Northeast 24th Avenue and Clackamas Street, where he was arrested, per the memo.