Portland police arrested a man Wednesday who is believed to be the man who left a homeless man near death earlier in the week, according to a police brief released Thursday afternoon.
The victim, known only as Scotty, was repeatedly stabbed in Old Town Monday evening and is now in a coma in critical condition at a local hospital.
Scotty had been living in a tent near Blanchet House, which provides free meals and other services to homeless people. The nonprofit handed over security footage to police that showed the attack.
Photographs of the suspect, taken from the Blanchet House security video, were distributed to police officers. Members of the Central Neighborhood Response Team and the bike squad participated in the search for him.
On Wednesday, police located and arrested 27-year-old Spencer James Kilpatrick just before noon. Kilpatrick is charged with attempted murder and unlawful use of a weapon. Kilpatrick is a thrice-convicted felon, and in two of those cases, he injured a man – in one case a security guard, in the other a Multnomah County corrections deputy — by punching and thrashing him, court records show.
Scotty was last seen by Blanchet House staff sleeping under a tree right outside the organization’s door, said Blanchet House spokesperson Julie Showers. He was found stabbed by a resident of Blanchet House’s transitional housing program who called 911. The video footage shows that a man ran up to Scotty and stabbed him a dozen times as he slept. No one at Blanchet House who viewed the video recognized the assailant.
Portland Police Lt. Nathan Sheppard said officers responded to the incident and immediately applied a tourniquet to the victim’s arm to stop the bleeding. A medical crew arrived shortly after and performed first aid prior to transporting Scotty to a hospital with life-threatening wounds. He remains in critical condition.
Nicole Hayden reports on homelessness for The Oregonian/OregonLive. She can be reached at nhayden@oregonian.com or on Twitter @Nicole_A_Hayden.
