PORTLAND, Ore. — The Multnomah County District Attorney has indicted a 52-year-old Portland man for the alleged assault of a University of Portland associate vice president.
Patrick Ell has been charged with one count of assault in the second degree after he allegedly used a baseball bat to beat Matthew Rygg.
Ell, who use to work for the University of Portland, was upset about the results of an investigation into an alleged sexual assault on one of his family members beat his former co-worker with a baseball bat, court documents said.
Ell waited outside of Rygg's on the evening of Friday Dec. 13 and hit him repeatedly with a bat, according to investigators. A 911 caller reported Rygg was struck in the head and bleeding heavily.
Rygg told detectives that he thought Ell was trying to kill him. Ell chased him down the street and continued to hit him with the bat while he tried to call 911, court documents said.
Ell was arrested later that night for second-degree assault.
Court documents say Ell was angry about a university investigation into a sexual assault claim that he brought forward roughly three years ago. The alleged victim was a member of Ell’s family who was attending the university at the time. After interviewing the alleged victim, university employees, including Rygg, determined that the sexual assault allegation lacked merit.
Rygg is the UP Associate Vice President for Student Development.
Ell was so angry at the investigation result that he left his job at the university.
Rygg told detectives he’s known Ell for about three years and that he knew Ell was angry with him about the results of the investigation. Rygg said he received several emails and Facebook messages from Ell before the attack, but none of them were threatening.
The university declined to comment on the alleged attack due to the ongoing criminal investigation.
Rygg has been released from the hospital and is recovering at an undisclosed location, according to University of Portland spokesman Michael Lewellen.