'I just want to know why he would do that' | Crime

PORTLAND, Ore. - A grandmother and her four granddaughters were just coming from a fabric store on Saturday when out of nowhere a man driving a stolen van slammed into them.

Three of them remain hospitalized and family members are grateful that they are expected to make a full recovery, but frustrated about why it happened.

It all started Saturday evening when a man who had just gotten out of jail one day earlier failed stop when police tried to pull him over at the intersection of Southeast 134th Avenue and Foster Road.

Police were tipped off that someone was driving a van erratically in the area and quickly tracked down the rogue vehicle. But the driver of the van took off and led officers on a chase, which ended in a violent crash at the intersection of Southeast 136th and Division.

The van's driver, 40-year-old Phillip Hattig, was injured in the pileup, as was 14-year-old Delaney Bean, her 87-year-old grandmother and her two young cousins.

Bean is set to start high school in just a few weeks and will now have to do that with a walker. She ended up with a cracked pelvis, broken nose, three fractured ribs and a punctured lung.

"I just want to know why he would do that," Bean said. "And why he would hurt little kids and people when they had nothing to do with him."

Bean, her grandmother and one of her cousins remain hospitalized.

Hattig was hospitalized as well following the crash but was in court on Monday. He pleaded not guilty on numerous charges, including drunk driving.

Hattig has a long rap sheet that spans years. He had been arrested last Thursday on attempted theft and trespassing charges and then he was bailed out on Friday. It was also learned that the van he had been driving was stolen from a local carpeting business.

Hearing about Hattig's long criminal past has the family of those injured in the wreck pretty upset because they are wondering if Hattig is simply slipping through the system.

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