PORTLAND, Ore. — Warning: Some of the details in this story may be disturbing to readers.
The Portland Police Bureau is trying to identify a man seen on security video earlier this month repeatedly abusing a dog inside a Northeast Portland apartment building.
The abuse was captured Aug. 2 on surveillance cameras in an apartment building on Northeast Holladay Street near Northeast Grand Avenue. The footage shows the man repeatedly abusing a small black dog, hitting the animal with a heavy rope and hanging it from a fire extinguisher and then repeatedly kicking it, PPB said.
Police described the suspect as a white male, about 6 feet tall and weighing about 175 pounds. He's known to "congregate at businesses" near Northeast Grand and Holladay, PPB said.
PPB published graphic video showing some of the abuse to YouTube in hopes that the public can help identify and locate the suspect.
In the video, which captures the inside of an elevator, the man leads the dog inside the elevator and waits for the doors to begin closing before unleashing an outpouring of physical abuse. When someone else boards the elevator, the man temporarily halts the attack and picks up the dog, apparently trying to hide his mistreatment.
“He is actively abusing the animal, and then stops and waits while the door is open and subject comes in and resumes that behavior once he believes the coast is clear. To us, that shows the individual knew exactly what he was doing,” said Sgt. Matt Johnson from PPB.
“Anyone who is willing to do this to a helpless and vulnerable animal, we have significant concerns about what they may be capable of doing to another person or another animal,” he concluded.
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of the suspect or the dog is asked to contact Detective Matthew Brown at matthew.brown@police.portlandoregon.gov and reference case number 24-803427.