GRESHAM, Ore. — An armed man rammed his car into multiple vehicles and a fence at an apartment complex in Gresham before running away from police on Sunday morning. Police suspended the search for the man but said he's still a danger.
It happened at the Northwood Manor apartment complex, located off Northeast 162nd Avenue and Glisan Street, according to the Gresham Police Department. And neighbors told KGW they don't feel safe anymore.
On Friday, Mirian Cruz's Ring camera captured the man she believes police are now looking for. Cruz, who has lived at Northwood Manor for almost 18 years, told KGW the suspect has been parking at her apartment complex on and off despite not living there. She said it's created havoc within the neighborhood.
"Something can happen to you, to your neighbor, to your kids, you never know," Cruz said. "And at that moment, millions of things cross your mind. And it’s the moment you say, 'we aren’t safe anymore.'"
According to Gresham police, they initially got reports of someone honking their horn during a dispute on Saturday. While officers were on their way, the suspect displayed a gun and started ramming into other vehicles in the area. By the time they arrived, the man they were looking for was nowhere to be found.
Police later determined their suspect has a felony warrant for unauthorized use of a vehicle.
"It's the first time we see someone with a gun that we know of," Cruz said. "But other people have parked here before. And we always try to say, 'hey, you don’t live here, please leave,' but they don’t care."
Fast forward to Sunday morning. Cruz's neighbors saw the same man in the same car sleeping in their parking lot with a gun in his lap.
That’s when her neighbor's brother called the police.
Gresham police quickly realized it was the same man they had been searching for from Saturday night, the one who'd rammed his vehicle into others.
"In the last few years, things have gotten worse here," Cruz said. "Having people like this so close by, you start realizing that something can happen in an instant."
Gresham's Special Emergency Response Team arrived with an armored rescue vehicle and parked directly behind the suspect's car to stop him from driving off.
But the suspect then rammed into a wooden fence and ran away from officers through the fence he crashed into.
Neighbors told KGW this isn't the first time people have run through their backyard. One of them actually built a wooden fence to stop this from happening, which in turn briefly stalled the suspect police were looking for.
The suspect tried to go through the fence, but was unsuccessful, so he kicked and broke the door open and ran away.
The suspect has not been found and officers believe he still has a gun. As of Sunday afternoon, Gresham police said it had discontinued the search for the suspect.