Police say they've arrested a suspect accused of bludgeoning a man in Downtown Portland with a golf club before pouring hot coffee on him, stomping on his head, and stealing his backpack.
Reports came in at about 8:30 a.m. on Monday, March 13 for an assault at a coffee stand downtown near Southwest 5th Avenue.
PPB officers found an injured man, who said he was attacked by a stranger without warning.
Surveillance footage from the coffee stand shows the suspect approach the victim from behind and bludgeon him across the head and back with a golf club. The victim is seen falling to the ground, and his attacker then takes a cup of hot coffee and throws it on him. The suspect then stomps on his head before stealing his backpack and walking away.
The victim was transported to the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. He has since been treated and released.
Police put out a public plea Friday (Mar. 31) for information on the suspect.
Harold P. Griffin III, 34, was taken into custody later that afternoon. He's been booked into the Multnomah County Jail on two counts of first-degree robbery, second-degree assault, fourth-degree assault, and fraudulent use of a credit card.
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"Almost immediately after the video and photos were released, PPB began receiving tips from the public on the suspect’s identity and possible sightings," Portland Police said.
Police said Griffin was spotted near a reported disturbance at Southwest 4th and Washington Street. While the disturbance didn't involve any crimes, officers recognized Griffin as being involved in the assault earlier this month.
A Portland Police spokesperson also shared that the coffee stand employees have faced criticism over the event, and issued the following statement:
"Those employees did nothing wrong and acted appropriately in the face of a violent attack with a weapon. The employees should not have physically intervened as doing so could have resulted in their being injured and making the situation worse. The employees and other bystanders assisted the victim as well as responding officers as soon as the suspect left the scene. PPB is grateful to the bystanders, coffee stand employees, and management for their help in this case. The successful resolution of the case may not have been possible without their assistance."
Detectives are also investigating the possibility that the same suspect is connected to other reported assaults, including a man who was found unconscious in Old Town on March 14 - a day after the coffee stand attack.
"They did an investigation and were able to determine that this person had been assaulted, and as they continue their investigation they were able to--what they believe is--to connect it to the same suspect from the previous case," said Sergeant Kevin Allen.
Saadi Nikoo owns Art of Persia, a business near the coffee shop where a man was attacked. Nikoo said sadly he's not surprised to hear about this.
"We have a lot of concerns about our safety because, constantly, we’ll encounter people that are coming in just to disturb us, and I’ve been attacked before," he said.
Nikoo said the last attack was only a few weeks ago.
"Somebody came in and was talking nonsense, and when I asked him to leave he just went in my face, but I backed out, and I didn’t want to touch him, obviously. So, we called the security and it took about four guys to move him out," he said.
Allen describes the recent assault cases as rare, and very scary.
"We don’t want people to be afraid to come downtown because of this event. We don’t want people to walk around in constant fear. But I think it’s good advice at any time to just be aware of your surroundings," he said.
If you have any helpful information, please contact Detective Matt Brown matthew.brown@police.portlandoregon.gov (503) 823-0859 and reference case number 23-65725.