Cop bit during a downtown scuffle

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, July 10, 2012

A 23-year-old man chasing former boyfriend lands in jail after wrestling with police

A downtown tussle Monday night had some bite to it.

Portland police said a 23-year-old man who was chasing and threatening his former boyfriend near Southwest Fifth Avenue and Main Street bit an officer during a scuffle as officers tried to arrest him. Justin Robert Hale was lodged in the Multnomah County Jail on charges of harassment (domestic violence), attempted assault of a public safety officer, resisting arrest and second-degree disorderly conduct.

The incident began at about 9:35 p.m. when police were told that a man was chasing another man down a street. As officers tried to talk to Hale, he turned toward one of them and began fighting with him. Hale bit the officer on the upper arm on the outside of his uniform.

The officer fired his Taser at Hale, but it only had a minor effect. Several other officers arrived and helped subdue the man.

The bite did not penetrate the officer’s uniform or his skin.