PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) , A Portland man is being held without bail after prosecutors say he attacked and bloodied another man for not giving him a cigarette.
According to court documents, the incident happened Wednesday, Sept. 2, near Southwest Broadway and Southwest 1st Avenue.
A man called 911, saying the alleged victim told him he had just been assaulted, was bleeding from his head and that the suspect had run off.
When officers arrived, they spoke with a man who said he was sitting and smoking a cigarette when another man approached him and asked for one.
The man said he did not have any cigarettes left but offered a puff from his own cigarette. He said the other man knocked the cane from his hand and repeatedly beat him over the head with it.
A woman nearby said she also witnessed the attack, which shattered the cane into several pieces.
The suspect, later identified as 36-year-old Joshua Joseph Kelly, was arrested as he tried to board a MAX train near Southwest 5th Avenue and Oak Street.
Police say Kelly admitted to hitting the man with the cane but made several “nonsensical” statements and claimed he was defending himself.
Kelly was arraigned Friday on charges of assault, attempted assault and unlawful use of a weapon.
He was also arrested earlier this year in Multnomah County on harassment and disorderly conduct charges.
According to court documents filed in that case, he was involved in at least two scuffles on a TriMet MAX platform on Northeast 82nd Avenue.
In one case, CCTV footage showed him pushing another man who was pushing a person in a wheelchair, nearly causing the man to fall into the street.
According to court records, charges were dismissed in the TriMet case after he was found unfit to stand trial.
Port of Portland police also arrested him at the Target store on Northeast Cascades Parkway in June after he allegedly tried to walk out of the store with several items in his backpack.
He was also arrested in Clackamas County on theft charges for allegedly stealing from a JCPenney store but failed to appear for a court hearing.
He was also arrested in Washington County after allegedly stealing from a 7-Eleven store but again failed to appear in court. A warrant was issued for his arrest.
Besides nearly $130 in merchandise, police say they found two Oregon IDs with different names on Kelly.
According to jail records, Kelly was convicted of felony assault with a deadly weapon in Sacramento, California, in 2014.
Kelly is due back in court Sept. 15 on the current charges, according to court records.
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