A 23-year-old convicted felon tried to enter the Multnomah County Justice Center this week carrying a gun, collapsible baton and pepper spray, authorities say.
A security officer stationed at the front doors noticed suspicious "clumps of metal” as James Richard Greenwood’s backpack passed through an X-ray machine Tuesday afternoon, according to a probable cause affidavit. The officer then discovered a revolver in the main pouch and the baton and spray in other compartments of the bag.
That prompted Greenwood to bolt, according to the affidavit.
James Richard Greenwood, 23, faces charges of trying to bring a gun into the Multnomah County Justice Center. (Multnomah County Sheriff's Office)
Greenwood had been convicted of attempted second-degree burglary in Nevada in 2015 and lost his right to own a gun, according to the affidavit.
A Multnomah County sheriff’s deputy found Greenwood a short while later not far from the Justice Center at 1120 S.W. Third Avenue.
Greenwood told the deputy that he simply forgot he was carrying the weapons.
Greenwood appeared Wednesday in Multnomah County Circuit Court to hear the charges against him: felon in possession of a gun, possession of a gun or dangerous weapon in a public building or court facility and unlawful possession of a gun.
It’s unclear why Greenwood was entering the building. He had been charged in June with second- and third-degree theft against two people, but he wasn’t scheduled to appear in court on that case until the day after he showed up at the Justice Center with the weapons.
The Justice Center contains four courtrooms, the offices of some county employees and access to the front lobby of the Multnomah County Detention Center. An entrance on the other side of the building on Southwest Second Avenue provides access to the Portland Police Bureau’s Central Precinct.
Authorities say this is the second time this year that a convicted felon has tried to bring a gun into the one of buildings where Multnomah County Circuit Court business is conducted.
In February, 37-year-old Laura Elizabeth Samuel showed up to the Multnomah County Courthouse, which is a block away from the Justice Center, with a handgun in her purse. She said she absentmindedly carried it in with her. In June, Samuel was sentenced to three years of probation and 32 hours of community service.
-- Aimee Green
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