Portland police: Man arrested after running and spitting in officers’ faces

By Web Staff

Click here for updates on this story

    PORTLAND, Oregon (KPTV) — Portland police say one man is in custody after using a van to ram into police vehicles before running away from officers on Wednesday.

At 11:29 a.m., officers were dispatched to a report of a fight in the 600 block of Southwest College Street. An officer on a separate stolen vehicle call learned that the fight may have involved a stolen 2015 cargo van he was taking a report on.

An officer found the stolen van with 32-year-old Brian D. Denault inside near Southwest Broadway and Southwest Jackson Street. The officer put down a spike strip to deflate the tires and minimize the danger to the public. Other officers arrived and when they asked Denault to get out of the van, he put it into gear, drove over the spike strips, rammed two police vehicles and then ran away on foot.

Officers briefly lost sight of him and set up a perimeter. He was located again but jumped a fence and continued running. Officers were able to arrest him but say the suspect spit in two officers’ faces. Police determined he was driving impaired as well.

One of the police vehicles was so heavily damaged it had to be towed.

Denault was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center on charges of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, felony attempt to elude, misdemeanor attempt to elude, reckless driving, two counts of aggravated harassment, driving under the influence of intoxicants, failure to perform the duties of a driver-property damage, and several warrants.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.