A woman is facing arson and menacing charges after stabbing two occupied cars with a knife, then igniting an unoccupied car on fire.
On Thursday, May 9, 2024 at 12:14p.m., Portland Police officers from Central Precinct responded to the area of Southwest Barbur Boulevard at Southwest 26th Avenue on a report of a woman running in traffic with a knife.
Officers arrived and located the suspect on Southwest Spring Garden Street at Southwest Barbur Boulevard. She was walking away from officers, and there were indications that she was in mental health crisis. An Enhanced Crisis Intervention Team (ECIT) officer responded to assist with communication. The officers were able to convince her to toss away the knife and surrender.
Meanwhile, officers were alerted to a car fully engulfed in fire around the corner on the 8700 block of Southwest 26th Way, just south of Southwest Spring Garden Street. Portland Fire & Rescue responded and extinguished the flames.
Officers investigated and determined that the suspect, Elishama M. Mathews, 42, had used the knife to stab two passing vehicles, causing dents and scratches. She then lit the parked vehicle on fire shortly before police arrived. No one was injured.
The Portland Fire Investigations Unit responded to the scene to investigate. Mathews was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center on charges of Arson in the Second Degree, Menacing (2 counts), and Criminal Mischief in the Second Degree (2 counts).
