07/14/2023 - Police Respond to Assault of Ambulance Crew vOLIc Tigard Police Department
e® NEWS RELEASE
TIGARD
OR 13125 SW Hall Boulevard, Tigard, Oregon 97223 • www.tigard-or.gov/police
July 14, 2023
CONTACT:
Kelsey Anderson, Public Information Officer
Tigard Police Department
Phone: 971-708-2921
Email: Kelsey.Anderson@tigard-or.gov
POLICE RESPOND TO ASSAULT OF AMBULANCE CREW
The Tigard Police Department responded to a call involving an EMT who was
assaulted by a patient on an ambulance.
On Thursday (7/13) at 7:48 AM Tigard police were dispatched to the area of SW
Pacific Highway and Canterbury Lane. They learned a two-person Metro West crew
(a paramedic and an EMT) were taking a person in an apparent mental health crisis
to the hospital for an evaluation as a result of a police call in Sherwood earlier that
morning, when the patient unbuckled himself and began hitting the paramedic in
the head and neck in the back of the ambulance.
The EMT who was driving stopped the ambulance and went to the back of the rig to
try and pull the patient off the paramedic, but the patient pushed backward and
began assaulting the EMT in the chest and throat. The EMT got out of the
ambulance and the patient began chasing him with a rock down Highway 99W.
Drivers along Highway 99W saw a large police presence respond to help. Tigard
Police officers found the man still chasing the EMT with a rock on the side of the
highway near SW Beef Bend Road. Officers were able to successfully intervene and
restrain the person in crisis using less-lethal force. The patient was ultimately taken
to the hospital on a second ambulance with a Tigard officer riding with the crew to
ensure their safety, and he was cited for two counts of assault. The EMT was taken
to the hospital for evaluation.
This call resulted in significant traffic delays along Highway 99W during the
morning commute Thursday. We'd like to thank those in the area for their patience.
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