ESTACADA, Ore. — A 19-year-old man who told sheriff’s deputies he was high on mushrooms was arrested for allegedly punching a 71-year-old woman in the face and crashing her truck into a bottle return machine outside an Estacada market on Sunday.
Bystanders held Rick Douglas Simmons down on the ground until Clackamas County sheriff’s deputies arrived and took him into custody around 7:16 p.m.
Deputies responding to the reported disturbance at Harvest Market were told that a man, later identified as Simmons, was suicidal and asking people to call the police. He was bleeding from cuts on his arms, deputies said.
Witnesses said Simmons shoved one woman and then walked across the parking lot and punched a 71-year-old woman in the face, which briefly knocked her unconscious. Simmons got into the woman’s truck in an apparent attempt to steal it.
Bystanders rushed to the woman’s aid and stopped Simmons from leaving the area, deputies said. As they struggled with Simmons, he drove the truck forward into a bottle return machine.
Witnesses removed him from the truck and held him down until deputies arrived.
The 71-year-old woman had some bruises but was not seriously hurt, deputies said. She was able to leave the scene with her family.
Simmons faces charges of third-degree assault, unlawful use of a vehicle, second-degree criminal mischief and reckless endangering. He was booked into the Clackamas County Jail and bail was set at $75,000.
