iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — A “fearless” USA Today foreign affairs reporter who “thrived” in war zones, according to a friend, was hit and killed by a car while he was riding his motorcycle in Washington, D.C., police said.
A USA Today foreign affairs reporter who was hit and killed by a car while riding his motorcycle in Washington D.C. on Friday night was a “fearless” journalist who “thrived” in war zones, according to a friend who spoke with ABC News.
Journalist Oren Dorell was on a Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle heading east on H Street on Friday night when he collided with a Toyota Camry, local police said.
Dorell, 53, was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The Toyota Camry driver, 47-year-old Daryl Grant Alexander, was arrested and charged with driving under the influence, police said – after he allegedly kept going for about one block before coming to a stop.
Alexander was also charged with second-degree murder, driving under the influence and leaving [the scene of an accident] after colliding, police said.
“We’re mourning the loss of Oren Dorell, our globe-trotting foreign affairs reporter, who was killed Friday in a hit-and-run,” said a post by USA Today on its Facebook page Saturday.
Dorell, who is survived by his wife and his 11 and 12 year old sons, spent 13 years at USA Today, during which time he “traveled to far reaches of the world, covering historic events, from Middle East uprisings to natural disasters,” USA Today said.
For Dorell, the interest in foreign affairs started early, according to his childhood friend, Eric Brenner.
As teenagers in suburban Philadelphia they’d go on long walks and “talk about the state of the world and politics and history,” Brenner told ABC News.
“There was something about Oren that was unique. He was a bit of a daredevil — he’d do things that nobody else in suburban Philadelphia would do,” Brenner said.
“He’d jump freight trains, went cross country, he’d go on these super long walks. And he was willing to meet anybody and talk to people and learn about them. And he was kind of fearless. And when you were around him you felt somewhat fearless yourself.”
“I always admired him,” Brenner said. “He really could see the depth of an issue and understand how things work.”
“In his reporting he just had a really deep grasp of what was really going on and he really cared,” Brenner said. “he went into the middle of war zones — he thrived in that. And he didn’t hesitate.”
Dorell also “was always involved with his family his kids,” Brenner added, describing him as a “phenomenal human being” who was “always so open to anybody.”
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