PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — A 65-year-old man is facing multiple felony charges after allegedly assaulting a wheelchair-bound man with a guitar and throwing a colostomy bag during a bizarre and violent encounter in downtown Portland over the weekend.
The Assault on SW Salmon Street
According to court documents, Portland police officers were dispatched around Saturday evening to 737 SW Salmon Street after receiving reports that a man was hitting another person over the head with a guitar.
When officers arrived, they found a man sitting in his wheelchair, bleeding heavily from the head and face. A witness quickly identified the suspect, who was then taken into custody without further incident.
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Witness and Victim Statements
The witness told police she heard yelling before seeing the suspect repeatedly strike the man in the wheelchair with an acoustic guitar. When she tried to intervene, she said the suspect ripped off his colostomy bag and threw it at her, prompting her to call for help.
The victim told officers that the confrontation began when a stranger — later identified as Cedric Anthony Hampton, 65 — approached him near the intersection of SW Park Avenue and SW Salmon Street asking for access to a nearby building. When the man refused, Hampton allegedly threw what the victim described as a “drunken punch” that grazed his head and shoulder before grabbing his guitar.
The victim said Hampton then swung the guitar three times. The first two strikes missed, but the third connected, leaving a five-centimeter laceration on the top of the victim’s head.
Medical Treatment and Arrest
Paramedics transported the victim to a local hospital, where he was treated for his head injury. Officers later recovered the broken acoustic guitar at the scene, along with other evidence connected to the assault.
Police arrested Hampton and booked him into the Multnomah County Jail, where he remains held on $20,000 bail. He was arraigned Monday on charges of:
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Second-degree assault
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Unlawful use of a weapon
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Menacing
Court Date and Ongoing Investigation
Hampton is scheduled to appear in court again on October 14. Investigators have not yet released additional details about what led to the confrontation or whether drugs or alcohol were a factor.
Community Shock
The assault, which took place in a busy part of downtown Portland, left witnesses shaken. “It was something you’d never expect to see,” one bystander told police. “He just came out of nowhere swinging that guitar.”
Authorities say the incident serves as a reminder of the city’s ongoing struggles with public safety and mental health challenges downtown.
Police have asked anyone who witnessed the attack or recorded video footage to contact the Portland Police Bureau’s Central Precinct Detective Unit.
