Grants Pass In-N-Out Burger sign damaged in crash – Medford News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News

Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)

2022-04-15

Document text

Grants Pass In-N-Out Burger sign damaged in crash By Nick Morgan Updated: Apr 15, 2022 11:35 AM A A Driver Raul Oscar Ortiz was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence of intoxicants prior to the Thursday morning crash that knocked down the iconic sign near the Grants Pass In-N-Out Burger. Grants Pass police photo. A Selma man is in jail in the wake of a suspected impaired driving crash in north Grants Pass that left an iconic In-N-Out Burger sign down-and-out. Raul Oscar Ortiz, 41, was arrested on a misdemeanor count of driving under the influence of intoxicants accusing him of crashing his 2008 Honda Civic coupe into the sign at Northeast Seventh Street and northeast Morgan Lane at 1:44 a.m. Thursday morning, according to a release issued by Grants Pass police Friday. No one was seriously injured in the crash. Police, however, say the Honda narrowly missed the burger chain’s drive-thru lane. As of shortly before 11 a.m. Friday, Josephine County Circuit Court records showed that the Josephine County District Attorney’s Office has not yet filed criminal charges against Ortiz in the crash. Josephine County Jail records Friday morning showed that Ortiz was still an inmate held on $10,000 bail on the single impaired driving charge. The Thursday morning crash is not the first time an iconic Grants Pass sign was damaged by a Honda in the past year. In December, a 1997 Honda Accord struck the “Redwood Empire” sign near the Caveman Bridge. At 9:22 a.m. Dec. 18, driver Lewis Bartholomew had reportedly reached for a cup of coffee that was tipping over while traveling south on Southwest Sixth Street, according to the citation for careless driving. The Honda Accord had left the roadway at the Riverside Inn entrance and struck a curb, which catapulted the car into the sign. Police found no signs of intoxication, and said that Bartholomew cooperated with the crash investigation. Reach web editor Nick Morgan at 541-776-4471 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @MTwebeditor.