PORTLAND, Ore. — Several Southeast Portland residents claim a man has been threatening to mace dogs and their owners at Laurelhurst Park. Ana Cudeck, one of those resident, told KGW she was out during her routine walk through Laurelhurst Park last Tuesday morning when things turned into a nightmare.
Cudeck said a man in his 30s or 40s approached her. He was dressed in black clothing and was carrying a large flashlight.
"It was a shock and super traumatizing,” Cudeck said. "It was completely dark out and he put a flashlight on my dog and said, 'If he comes near me, I'm going to mace him.'"
Cudeck said she tried to de-escalate the situation by walking away but the man started to follow her.
"I was starting to really fear and get panicked," Cudeck said. “So, I turned around and I was ready to pull my knife out, and instead he put the flashlight right in my face and maced me from like 5 feet away."
Shocked and scared, she grabbed her dog and ran home.
Cudek is not alone. People on the Nextdoor app said they've had similar interactions with a person they believe to be the same man.
Lauren Barnhart, who has been walking her dogs at Laurelhurst Park for years, described a similar encounter.
"I see someone walking up on the lower path toward me and he had a really big light," Barnhart said. "It was not a headlamp or a flashlight but a big light."
Barnhart's interaction with the man happened Friday morning. She said after she took one of her two pups off the leash in the dog-off-leash area, the man flashed his light at her from a distance. She recalled her dog, who was off-leash, as she thought that’s what the man was asking her to do by shining the light. But as he walked closer to her, Barnhart said the man started yelling at her.
"'If I ever see your dog off the leash again, I'm going to mace you and mace your dog. You never know if these dogs are friendly. How do you think this makes people feel?'" she recalled the man yelling.
That's when her two dogs, Dolly Parton and Gordy, started getting protective and the man backed off.
"I'm very grateful to have had my big dog with me," Barnhart said. "That was probably the only reason why he didn't get close enough to me to actually mace me."
Both Cudeck and Barnhart said they hope the man is caught and charged. Both they also said they won't allow him to scare them from continuing to use the park.
"I have just been trying to keep some distance, but I won't let him take the park away from me," Cudeck said. "That's just not gonna happen."
The Portland Police Bureau confirmed that they received Cudeck's report. They said they checked the park, but didn't find anyone matching the description.
Portland Parks and Recreation said they're aware of the reports and will have rangers make additional visits to the area.
Correction: A previous version of this article misspelled Laurelhurst.