Safety Briefs: Armed menacing, domestic violence car crash, naked traffic disturbance

Man arrested for menacing officers with knife

An armed man who told Gresham Police officers he was “suicidal and homicidal” was arrested Monday, Aug. 12.

Officers attempted to stop the suspect near Northeast Burnside Road and North Main Avenue after illegally crossing several lanes of traffic despite a crosswalk 50 feet away. Upon approaching, officers said the man pulled a large knife out of his coat and “aggressively closed the distance while cursing.”

Eventually the man turned away and walked toward an empty car dealership lot at Burnside and Northwest Fairview Drive. While attempting to arrest the suspect, he flipped officers off and continued cursing at them, all while still armed.

After 30 minutes of crisis negotiations, the man dropped three knives and surrendered to officers. He was found to be hallucinating and told police he had taken methamphetamine and had documented mental health issues. He was cited for disorderly conduct and menacing, and taken to a hospital for evaluation.

Drunk-driving husband crashes into wife’s car

A domestic dispute that involved alcohol allegedly escalated into a husband-wife car crash.

According to Gresham officers, a couple had been arguing Sunday morning, Aug. 18, at their home in the area of Southwest Highland Drive and Southwest Pleasant View Drive. The husband, who police said had been drinking, intentionally crashed into his wife’s car when she attempted to leave in a different vehicle.

That collision pushed the wife’s car into a ditch, and had the husband’s vehicle flip over. The husband was taken to a nearby hospital with injuries, and officers got a warrant to test his blood for alcohol content.

He is in custody at the Multnomah County Detention Center on charges of vehicular assault and driving while under the influence of alcohol. Highland was closed for nearly two hours while tow trucks removed the wrecks. No injuries to the wife were reported.

Intoxicated driver strips naked in middle of roadway

A 42-year-old man was taken to a hospital by Gresham officers after consuming methamphetamine, experiencing an “agitated chaotic event” while driving, abandoning his car and stripping off his clothes, and causing a disturbance.

Officers were called for the welfare check Sunday morning, Aug. 18. The driver was traveling southbound on Southwest Highland Drive, near Southwest 11th Street, when he left his car in the middle of the roadway. While removing clothes, he ran into traffic screaming his mother had been kidnapped.

Gresham Police attempted to corral the man and get him safely out of the road. An ambulance arrived after about 20 minutes, and it took another 10 minutes to get the man onto a gurney because he was “naked and extremely slippery due to his profuse sweating.”

The man was treated at Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center. His mother was contacted and she plans to bring him home to Redmond, Washington. He faces a disorderly conduct charge.