A couple attacked by transients at Poet’s Beach along the Willamette River is suing the city of Portland, alleging police knew they were potentially dangerous and failed to remove them.
The federal suit alleges the officers didn’t arrest the transients for camping on public property and threatening and assaulting others.
On July 25, 2017, Andrew and Kelly Corrado had gone with their dog to Poet’s Beach on the west side of the river beneath the Marquam Bridge.
Two Portland officers at the park told the Corrados that they had been called there on reports of an “abusive, assaultive individual who was living at the beach,’’ the suit says. The officers said they had received more than one complaint and warned the Corrados to stay away from a man and woman camping at the beach.
Sometime later, as the Corrados were sitting on the beach, their dog noticed another dog running on the beach and tried to follow it. As the Corrados got up to grab their dog, a man began to throw rocks at Andrew Corrado, forcing him to retreat into the river to avoid getting hit, the suit says.
The man throwing rocks, later identified as Jonathan Rance, then turned his attention to Kelly Corrado, who tried to come to her husband’s aid. Rance, apparently disturbed that the Corrados had left their dog off leash, shoved her onto large boulders at the river’s edge and began to strike her with a metal baton on the back of her head, according to the suit.
She tried to call 911 but Rance grabbed her cellphone, the suit says. As her husband approached, Rance struck him in the shoulder with the baton. Kelly Corrado’s screaming got the attention of a lifeguard and a park ranger.
Kelly Corrado was taken by ambulance to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center, where she was treated for a large gash to her head and received four staples to close the wound.
“The Plaintiffs were informed that the assaultive individual originally identified by the Portland Police was, in fact, Mr. Rance and that the police had been called between 3-5 times in recent days because of his assaultive and dangerous behavior,” the lawsuit says.
Portland police spokeswoman Lt. Tina Jones said the bureau couldn’t comment about the incident, the arrest or why no prior action had been taken against Rance because of the pending litigation.
The attack has made the Corrados wary of going out in the city, their lawyer, Michelle R. Burrows, said in the suit.
“They still go out and about but with a new trepidation and anxiety that someone will try to hurt them,” Burrows wrote. “They are constantly looking over their shoulder and in a lot of cases just choose to stay at home or enjoy their days off at their coastal beach house.”
Rance ran from the beach but was arrested at a hotel several days later. On June 29, Rance, 36, was sentenced to five years in state prison after pleading guilty to second-degree assault and two counts of unlawful use of a weapon.
According to a probable cause affidavit filed after Rance’s arrest, Rance and his wife were camping in a tent at the park with their two dogs, a rabbit and a parrot. Rance told the Corrados when they first arrived that they’d been camping there for several weeks.
They first engaged in polite conversation, and Rance asked Andrew Corrado to keep their dog on a leash, explaining that his dog was protective of their camping area, prosecutor Stacey Borgmann wrote in the affidavit.
Kelly and Andrew Corrado are each seeking damages of $500,000. The suit was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Portland.
-- Maxine Bernstein
Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com
Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian
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