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ESTACADA, Ore. (KPTV) — Deputies in Clackamas County arrested a man in a grocery store parking lot after they say he punched an elderly woman in the face and tried to steal her pickup.
Deputies Sunday evening responded to a disturbance at Harvest Market in Estacada.
They were advised that the suspect, Rick Douglas Simmons, 19, of Estacada, was telling people he was suicidal and asking them to call the police.
Simmons was bleeding from cuts on his arms and told deputies he had taken hallucinogenic mushrooms earlier that afternoon, according to the sheriff’s office.
Witnesses say Simmons in the parking lot approached a woman, shoved her and asked her to call police. They say Simmons then walked across the parking lot toward a 71-year-old woman and punched her in the face, causing her to fall down and briefly lose consciousness.
Simmons then entered the woman’s truck in what appeared to be an attempt to steal it, according to deputies.
The sheriff’s office says bystanders in the parking lot came to the injured woman’s aid and stopped Simmons from leaving.
During the struggle with bystanders, deputies say Simmons drove the woman’s truck forward and hit bottle return machine. Several bystanders were then able to remove Simmons from the pickup and hold him down until law enforcement arrived and took him into custody.
Simmons was booked at the Clackamas County Jail and is facing charges of assault in the third degree, unlawful use of a motor vehicle, criminal mischief in the second degree and reckless endangering.
Firefighters helped to provide first aid to the injured woman and to Simmons for his cuts.
The elderly woman suffered bumps and bruises but was able to leave the scene with family members, according to the sheriff’s office.
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