Caught on Camera: Window-smashing spree with golf club shakes up North Portland neighborhood
By Soyoung Kim
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PORTLAND Oregon (KPTV) — Police in part of the Portland metro are searching for a suspect who went on a smashing spree with a golf club Wednesday morning. At least one of the acts of vandalism in the St. Johns neighborhood was caught on camera.
People who live in North Portland said there are many things they love about their community.
“The ability to walk to different restaurants and shops,” Greg Labavitch, who lives nearby, said.
But also said they aren’t surprised to hear about the acts of vandalism that happened on Wednesday morning.
“We come down here at least a couple of times per week,” Labavitch said. “The property damage is just rampant all the time.”
One victim said they returned to their parked car on North John Avenue to find several windows had been smashed.
“First we saw the back window was damaged. Then we checked the front window. Yeah, the front window and we have some glass inside the car,” a victim said.
A video from a business nearby shows someone swinging a golf club at the front windshield of a car before walking away just before 8:30 a.m.
People who work nearby said several other cars were also hit.
“A car’s windshield was busted out around the corner and then two more down the street, and then 7-11 later was also hit,” Steven Cook, a business owner, said.
A witness said the person who vandalized the 7-11 on North Lombard Street also damaged the store’s windows with a golf club.
This comes just weeks after St. Johns community and business leaders proposed their own 90-day reset plan to address crime in the area.
Local business owners said, unfortunately, too many people in the area have their own similar stories to share.
“We had our window smashed out a little over a year ago,” Cook said. “It seems like they’re doing destruction for the sake of it.”
One of the victims said they do plan to press charges if and when that suspect is caught.
If you have any information, contact Portland Police Bureau’s North Precinct.
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