Police: Portland man attacks teenager with hammer - KPTV - FOX 12

Police: Portland man attacks teenager with hammer; victim gets 36 stitches

A Portland man attacked a teenager with a hammer and then took off running.  It all happened just after 6:30 p.m. Wednesday near the intersection of Northeast Broadway and 13th Avenue. 

Police are still searching for the suspect; meanwhile, the victim continues to recover with 36 stitches in his head.

The 18-year-old victim tells FOX 12 that he and his girlfriend had just left the Goodwill on Northeast Broadway when they began to argue. That's when the suspect confronted the two with his hammer, according to the victim.

"He must have been on something, he didn't look right in the eyes," said the victim, Tim, who wanted to keep his last name anonymous.

"He came up to me and said, ‘If you hit her again, I'm gonna hit you.'  He was three feet away from me on the sidewalk. I said, ‘What are you talking about?' Then he pulled out a hammer, and before I knew it, I'm holding my head and there's blood all over my face."

Tim says he didn't lay a hand on his girlfriend, they were just arguing.  He says he didn't even realize what had happened until he looked down at his hands, covered in his own blood.

"He hit me hard, there was blood was everywhere, it was bad," said Tim.

The suspect ran off to a nearby apartment that he told Tim he was currently living in.  When police arrived though, they were unable to track him down. 

Tim was rushed to the hospital, where he was treated for a concussion and was stitched back up by a plastic surgeon. 

He says he's grateful his injuries aren't any worse, but he fears for the public knowing the suspect is still out there.

"It's just crazy that this guy is still walking around with a hammer in his pants," said Tim.

The suspect is described as a white man in his 40s, 5'8'' tall with shoulder-length dirty brown hair and blue eyes. He was last seen wearing a University of Oregon T-shirt and tan cargo shorts. 

Anyone with information is asked to call Portland police.

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