Panicked paradegoers dove for cover as a driver, overcome by a fit of road rage, careened through the streets of Portland, Ore., spewing profanities and screaming about the injustice of closed roads.
Newly released dashcam video, first obtained by The Oregonian, shows an enraged Sidney Mecham allegedly crossing through barriers and plowing through traffic cones set up for the June 10 Rose Festival parade before weaving along the parade route and causing people to dive out of the path of his erratic driving.
The dramatic video, taken from inside Mecham’s Chevy Avalanche, was submitted by prosecutors as evidence during a hearing in which a judge decides if a defendant will remain in jail before their trial, according to NBC’s KGW8.
Mecham, 42, pleaded not guilty to 38 counts, including felony unlawful use of a weapon and attempting to elude an officer. He was also accused of driving with a suspended licence and no insurance.
He remains in custody in a Portland jail after a judge denied his bail at an August hearing.
Thousands of people had gathered along the three-kilometre-long parade route of the Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade, which was just about to begin.
With music blaring inside the vehicle and sirens sounding outside, Mecham allegedly crashed through a set of Oregon Department of Transportation barricades.
Extended footage, obtained by KGW8, shows multiple angles from inside Mecham’s car as he grows increasingly angry with being stuck in traffic.
“They’ve got it all blocked off!” he screams, before flipping off construction workers and yelling “F–k you.”
The dashcam footage then shows him speeding through a blocked exit, hitting signs that warned of a parade route ahead, and driving up on the grassy shoulder of the highway to veer around construction and transportation vehicles.
It’s at this point that he veers directly onto the parade route, refusing to stop for police officers attempting to pull him over. He runs multiple red lights and crosses several barriers on side streets.
According to Insider, this isn’t Mecham’s first serious brush with the law. In 1999, he was convicted of attempted first-degree rape and attempted first-degree sodomy, according to the Oregon State Police sex offender registry.
And in 2016, he was convicted of both third-degree sexual abuse and sodomy.
According to records from the Oregon Judicial Department, Mecham is awaiting new counsel.
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