It took cranes, crews, and several weeks, but Portland police finally brought a white Toyota Corolla back to dry land on Tuesday morning, recovering the vehicle at the center of one of the city’s most heartbreaking tragedies this April. The car, which sits at the center of a deadly police chase, was lifted from the Willamette River and placed on the grass at Tom McCall Waterfront Park before noon.
The crash, which happened on April 6, claimed the lives of three young people from Beavercreek, Oregon. Police identified the victims as Jakob Esperum, 20; Garcia-Chavez, 19; and Trent Badillo, 17. A fourth person in the vehicle survived, escaping the sinking car and being pulled from the river by first responders shortly after the crash.
The incident began when Portland officers spotted the car speeding through downtown, running red lights and driving the wrong way. When officers attempted a traffic stop, the driver fled, tore through Tom McCall Waterfront Park, and went straight into the river. What followed was a recovery operation that stretched over two weeks and tested the limits of what emergency crews could do in one of Oregon’s most powerful waterways.
Two of the three victims were recovered within the first day. The search for the third person lasted more than a week, delayed by relentless river currents that continuously shifted objects along the riverbed, from logs to rocks to other debris. The third victim was eventually recovered, and on Tuesday, the car itself finally followed.
A Recovery Operation Made Difficult by Nature
The Willamette River does not cooperate with timelines. Authorities were frank about the challenges facing recovery teams, noting that the strong currents kept moving everything along the bottom of the river, making it extraordinarily difficult to locate and secure remains or wreckage. It was not simply a matter of sending divers down; the river itself was an active obstacle.
When crews were finally able to bring the car up, they used a crane to do so, a visual that drew attention at the waterfront park where the crash had ended weeks before. The recovery of the vehicle marks what may be the final major step in the active operation, though the investigation into the events leading up to the crash is still ongoing.
Who Were the Victims?
The three young men who lost their lives that night were all from Beavercreek, a small community in Clackamas County, southeast of Portland. Jakob Esperum was 20 years old. Garcia-Chavez was 19. Trent Badillo was just 17. By most definitions, these were kids, the kind of people who should have decades of life ahead of them.
The fourth occupant of the car managed to get out of the vehicle after it entered the river and was rescued by first responders. That survivor’s identity has not been publicly released.
Portland Police Bureau’s Operations Assistant Chief Brian Hughes addressed the tragedy shortly after it unfolded, calling it a heartbreaking incident and extending the department’s thoughts to the families and loved ones of everyone affected.
What This Incident Reminds Us About Police Pursuits
The crash has inevitably renewed conversation about the risks of high-speed police chases in populated urban areas. Pursuit policies vary significantly from city to city, and the debate over when it is appropriate to engage in a chase has no simple answer. On one hand, allowing a vehicle to flee unchallenged creates its own public safety risks. On the other, a pursuit through downtown streets at high speed puts everyone in the vicinity in danger, including the very people officers are sworn to protect.
In this case, the driver chose to flee from what began as a traffic stop, and that decision ultimately led to catastrophe. Three people are dead. A fourth narrowly escaped. Whatever questions arise about procedure or policy, the human cost here is impossible to separate from the choices made in those final moments before the car hit the water.
For the families of Esperum, Garcia-Chavez, and Badillo, the recovery of the vehicle may bring a measure of closure to one chapter, even as grief over their losses continues. The investigation remains open.