Woman files $4M lawsuit over attack outside Portland behavioral health facility

PORTLAND, Ore. (KPTV) - A woman has filed a lawsuit, claiming a man attacked her with a large rock outside a Portland behavioral health facility after he had just been released.

Sonya Gonzales filed a civil lawsuit Tuesday morning against Unity Center for Behavioral Health, which is operated by Legacy Emanuel Hospital & Health Center. She is seeking $4 million in damages.

According to the lawsuit, Gonzales was standing outside the clinic on Aug. 9, 2022, when Dwayne Simpson came up behind her and hit her in the head with a rock. The rock was about the size of a basketball and weighed nearly 35 pounds.

The lawsuit claims no security staff from inside the clinic came to help the victim as she lay bleeding on the ground for several minutes.

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According to the lawsuit, Simpson had been experiencing a mental health crisis and making threats for weeks before the attack and was reportedly at Unity that day but was discharged. It also claims Unity knew Simpson was dangerous when they released him and that the attack could have been prevented.

In a statement form the lawyers representing Gonzales, it reads:

“The evidence indicates that this same perpetrator was seen at Legacy facilities twice in the 16 days before the attack on Ms. Gonzales - both times for threatening the same kind of attack he ultimately carried out on her. We intend to prove that Unity knew that Simpson was a ticking time bomb and ignore it, dumbing the danger right back out in the community. We believe that evidence will show that the attack on Ms. Gonzales was entirely preventable.”

FOX 12 reached out to Legacy for a statement on the lawsuit but they said they can not comment on pending litigation.

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