Here's how the ‘Instagram blue pickup' driver was nabbed
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — For 90 years, has been a city staple along a very busy stretch of Southeast Hawthorne in Portland. On Friday, owner Nick Brown saw an incident unfold on this 'vibrant street' near SE 37th that helped solve an ongoing police investigation.
Shortly before noon, the driver of a bright blue 1994 GMC Sierra pickup truck, Oscar Burell Jr., called police to report he'd been in a hit-and-run.
Brown told KOIN 6 News Burell stopped his truck in the middle of the road.
'There was another person behind him that was getting angry,' he said. Burell 'decided he was going to go sell some clothes (at a store in that stretch) and walked out of his truck and the guy behind him was honking his horn, getting a little agitated.'
'Reckless' blue pickup driver linked to infamous Instagram account arrested, identified
Burell walked back to his truck, grabbed some more clothes and walked back toward the store, Brown said. That's when the blocked driver 'decided to have a (yelling) confrontation with him' and then 'decided to grab his keys out of the truck and drive off with them.'
That's when Burell called police. When the cops arrived a while later, the officer recognized Burell's name and called for backup to help arrest him.
Burell, 33, is the man accused of driving recklessly throughout Portland for weeks — but not before amassing an Instagram following with hundreds of videos documenting his antics. The content ranges from driving on the shoulder of the I-5 to doing donuts on the grass near the tennis courts of Peninsula Park.
He was arrested for three counts of reckless driving, criminal mischief, and recklessly endangering another person. Burell is expected to make his first appearance in a Multnomah County courtroom on Tuesday.
Instagram account of 'reckless' blue pickup driver strikes fear in Portland online community
Officials say the other driver has not been found.
Nick Brown said he'd 'be upset as well if someone parked in the middle of Hawthorne. I mean, it's a busy street, very vibrant street.'
At the time of the incident, Brown — who had seen the Instagram videos — didn't know Burell was the suspect. He's glad Burell is off the streets for now.
'I think that people that break the law maliciously are not the people that we want in the city,' Brown said.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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