Father of man killed in NE 33rd hit-and-run still seeking answers

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - Along NE 33rd Drive you’ll see a large traffic message board reading “traffic death 6/29/23, travel with care.”

Travis Philmlee Sr. says it was put up around an hour before he spoke with FOX 12 on Monday.

“It’s a little too late,” said Philmlee. “People fly through here all hours of the night with their headlights off. 60-70 miles per hour. Police don’t do anything at all. That was something my son was always mad about. Cars just speeding through here with all this foot traffic. It’s crazy.”

Last month, Philmlee’s son, Travis Philmlee II, was hit and killed by a vehicle that was chasing down a truck that Philmlee says was throwing explosives at RVs along the road. Philmlee says he has not heard from police since the incident.

RELATED: Police identify 26-year-old man killed in NE Portland hit-and-run

“I’ve been calling the police,” said Philmlee. “I’ve called twice, actually three times. I’ve left two messages telling them I’ve found new information about this case and I want to let them know. They haven’t returned my calls. They just don’t care is what I’m getting out of it. They care about the person that took off, the lady that actually hit him, and I clearly told them it wasn’t her fault. It was the guy in the truck that caused all this. They didn’t care. They weren’t looking for an evidence of the explosives. They told me they weren’t looking for anything.”

Philmlee says he and his son aren’t from Portland, they were only stopping in the city for the last two months. After speaking to his neighbors, Philmlee says people throwing things at the RVs and those living in them isn’t new.

“The neighbors on both sides of us have been here for years and they told me that same exact truck has been through here the last two years,” said Philmlee. “People, not just the white truck, but other people have thrown full bottles of beer through their windows, have tried lighting their trailers on fire. Not just here, but other parts of town as well. It seems like police aren’t doing anything at all to help the homeless.”

As he continues searching for answers, Philmlee says he wants the person who has allegedly been throwing things at those experiencing homelessness to be caught.

“Imagine if it was your son,” said Philmlee. “You would not be sitting on your hands, doing nothing about it. You would be doing everything you could to find this person and I don’t understand why you aren’t doing that for me. We need justice for my son. We need to stop these people from doing these things before more people get hurt or killed.”

Authorities are searching for the driver of the black or silver sedan and the driver and possible passengers of the lifted white pickup truck in connection to the investigation.

“We believe it’s a Ford F250 or F350,” said Philmlee. “A newer model. We know it’s a twin turbo diesel. It could be a four door Chevy, but no one is really positive on it. We had another Ford hit and kill someone right on this same road a week before that matches the same description. A lifted white truck. Might have some damage on it, but they might have gotten it fixed. Someone has to know something. They have to call police. He is going to kill someone else.”

If anyone has information about the vehicles or their occupants, they are asked to contact PPB at crimetips@police.portlandoregon.gov and reference case number 23-171259.

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