Portland police let standoff with knife-wielding man end without arrest

Police in Portland, Oregon, allowed a knife-wielding man to walk free after he set off an hourslong barricade that started when he pepper-sprayed an officer and lunged at police with his weapon.

Portland Police Chief Bob Day said Tuesday that “much of where policing lies is in the gray,” a day after the suspect hid behind a picnic table outside a restaurant and began his standoff with authorities.

Police said they used Tasers and less-than-lethal rounds to try and subdue the man, whose identity wasn’t shared, but Chief Day said officers on the scene Monday night chose not to escalate after determining the suspect wasn’t a threat to the public.

“A lot of challenges, a lot of nuances, a lot of opportunity for that discretion,” the chief said. “If you play that out the other way and we have to use lethal force, that has a huge impact on the community as well.”

A Monday statement from police said community members gave the suspect food and money after officers backed away. The statement also said, “A plan will be developed to take him into custody at a later date.”

The incident started at about 6 p.m. Monday when patrol officers spotted the man and knew he had a warrant out for felony ID theft in Clackamas County.

As officers approached him, police said he pepper-sprayed one officer and brandished a knife.

Officers responded by shooting the man with a stun gun and rubber bullets, but neither stopped him. He then positioned himself in front of the restaurant for roughly three hours until police backed off.

“I was really disappointed with the police response yesterday,” area resident Haley Tuttle told Portland’s KGW on Tuesday. “I feel like they’re supposed to keep us safe and I feel less safe now that they escalated the situation. They shot out a bus stop, and the person’s still living around the corner from us.”