Armed man breaks into South Portland home, police standoff ensues for several hours

PORTLAND, Ore. ( KOIN ) — A man armed with a knife was arrested Saturday morning after breaking into a South Portland house and barricading himself there for several hours the night before, police said.

Just after 11:30 p.m. Friday, officers responded to a call reporting banging sounds outside of a home in the 2400 block of Southwest 5th Avenue.

On arrival, they said they found a man – identified as 55-year-old Aaron Onufrock – had broken into the home’s basement. Officials said Onufrock had a knife in his hand and repeatedly refused to come out of the basement after several attempts at negotiation.

SERT and CNT officials then responded to the scene and the home’s residents were evacuated. Streets around Southwest 5th Avenue and Southwest Caruthers Street were also closed off.

Authorities said the negotiations with Onufrock continued for several hours. At one point, officials said he even started a fire that burned a door in the basement.

After officials said Onufrock refused to come out for another several hours, officers used pepper spray to attempt to coax him out at around 6 a.m. When he still stayed put, officers deployed “irritant gas” in the basement, police said.

At 6:40 a.m., Onufrock dropped the knife, surrendered to officers and was taken to a hospital for medical evaluation.

He was then booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center on charges of first-degree burglary, first-degree arson, criminal mischief, criminal trespass and third-degree theft.

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