Four men beat, stab deaf man on walk

From: OregonLive.com - Portland,OR,USA - May 5, 2006


The Oregonian

A 45-year-old deaf man was beaten and stabbed Wednesday night while walking home from a bar with a friend in Southeast Portland, said Detective Paul Dolbey, a Portland Police Bureau spokesman.

He was in stable condition Thursday morning in OHSU Hospital, police said.

The incident occurred just before 10:30 p.m.

The man's friend said four men walked up to them and targeted the deaf man in the 3700 block of Southeast 122nd Avenue. A ringleader of the four was heard saying, "Hit him, punch him, beat him," police said. The victim struggled to tell them he was impaired.

Dolbey said detectives later learned that the victim and his friend apparently had a "verbal and physical altercation" with the four suspects before the attack.

The friend ran to a nearby house, banged on the door and asked someone to call police.

The friend said they did not know the attackers. The suspects were described as four white men ages 18 to 20 with shaved heads. The victim and friend were white men.

Dolbey said detectives determined the attack was not a bias crime.

-- Maxine Bernstein


©2006 The Oregonian