PORTLAND, Ore. — After a several-hour standoff, Portland police arrested a man accused of stealing two vehicles and attempting to carjack several more before breaking into a nearby home. Police identified the suspect as 30-year-old Christopher Sean O'Connor.
Officers responded to reports of a stolen car Tuesday evening near Northeast 103rd Avenue and Weidler Street. When officers found the car in a restaurant drive-through, the O'Connor bailed out and started running. Police said he then ran to another nearby restaurant and armed himself in the kitchen with a meat cleaver.
Officers attempted to use a taser on O'Connor, but he ran from the restaurant and carjacked a passing driver before ditching the car on Northeast 122nd, police said.
O'Connor then allegedly tried to carjack two other people, including a man in a WinCo parking lot. KGW later spoke with the man's father, who recounted the incident.
"I got a phone call from my son and he had told me that a gentleman had just tried to hijack his car, tried to stab him and take my little 2-year-old grandson," said John Ream. "He told him, 'If you don't let me take the car, I'm going to kill you.'"
Police said O'Connor couldn't get that car started, and that's when he ran into a nearby neighborhood and broke into a home. The homeowner ran out of the building when O'Connor allegedly broke in.
Officers surrounded the home and the Crisis Negotiation Team attempted to talk to O'Connor. Members of the Portland Police Bureau's Special Emergency Reaction Team (SERT) arrested him around 1 a.m. on Wednesday, reportedly finding him hiding in the attic of the home.
O'Connor was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center on multiple charges including two counts of robbery in the first degree, burglary in the first degree, burglary in the second degree, two counts of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and assault in the fourth degree. Police said O'Connor also had an outstanding warrant for his arrest, but didn't provide any additional details.
There were no reported injuries among any of the victims.
Anyone with information about the case who has not yet spoken with police is asked to contact Detective Ken Reynolds at kenneth.reynolds@police.portlandoregon.gov or 503-823-0407 and reference case #23-29078.
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