A Portland man slammed the window of a police car and pepper-sprayed an officer who was sitting inside on Sunday morning, authorities said.
John Russell, 41, is blamed for busting one of the windows to the squad car at about 9:40 a.m. so as to hit the officer with the spray, Portland police said in a public statement.
The officer was doing paperwork inside the marked police vehicle near South Corbett Avenue and South Lane Street at the time of the attack.
Russell fled in his own car after the incident. But the officer managed to quickly broadcast his description over the radio and the suspect was caught by cops about six blocks away, authorities said.
Police recovered window-breaking tools, pepper spray, throwing knives, rocks and other items inside Russell’s car.
The officer who was pepper-sprayed recognized Russell’s car as the one that had been following him before the attack.
Russell was charged with assaulting a public safety officer, aggravated harassment and criminal mischief.
