News release from the Newport Police Department:
On Thursday August 17th, 2023 at approximately 7:33 AM, Newport Police Officers were dispatched to a one vehicle crash on the south end of the Yaquina Bay Bridge. Callers reported a vehicle had struck the bridge railing and was blocking the southbound lane of travel.
Officers arrived on scene and located the vehicle, a 2018 Ford Explorer, with heavy front-end damage. The driver of the vehicle was identified as 47-year-old South Beach resident Brian Macho. Investigation revealed that Macho was northbound on Highway 101 when he drifted out of his lane, driving up onto the east side sidewalk as he drove onto the bridge, before crossing over the southbound lane of travel and crashing head on into the west side sidewalk and railing causing damage to the concrete railing.
Macho was showing signs of impairment during the crash investigation and submitted to Standardized Field Sobriety Tests, which later indicated he was impaired. Macho was transported to the Lincoln County Jail where he provided a breath sample that showed his blood alcohol content at .08%. Macho was lodged at the Lincoln County Jail for DUII and Criminal Mischief II, due to the damage to the bridge.
Sad news
Brian is going through a difficult time because, in the last three months, his wife has had to be taken to the hospital several times in an emergency due to her delicate state of health.
I want Brian and his family to get into perfect timing.
This morning when I passed by the scene of the accident, observing the trace of the marks left by the tires on the ground, they showed a very sharp turn to the left, which allowed me to presume that the driver might have tried to avoid someone or something that very suddenly it crossed his path.
Sorry, but we all go through difficult times. Brian didn’t make anything easier by consuming alcohol and getting behind the wheel of a vehicle. My prayers for him, his family and for those he didn’t kill or injure.
There is never an excuse for DUI
My daughter and I were running that day and he narrowly missed hitting us right before he crashed. We could be dead or in a coma right now. It’s sad but lives were really at risk. He didn’t swerve to miss anything. He had already swerved 3 times before that.