Man shot at with paintball gun and assaulted by man driving a car while riding in North Portland

Here’s some crazy news… The Portland Police Bureau is looking for suspects tonight wanted in a hit-and-run and paintball shooting assault on N. Vancouver Avenue near Skidmore.

According to a police statement, the suspects fired several shots at 36-year-old Ricardo Medina of Vancouver, Washington while he was riding his bike. Luckily, none of the shots hit him. The statement says suspects were driving a light-colored, 4-door newer Honda Civic. They pulled up next to Medina before shooting at him. After the initial incident, the suspects in the car returned for a second time and the driver used the car as a weapon against Mr. Medina. Here’s how the police describe what happened:

“The victim told police that the suspect vehicle came back around the block so he got off his bicycle and confronted them about the shooting. The victim told police that he was off his bike standing in front of the car, when the driver began to drive forward slowly pushing the victim backwards.

The driver then put the car in reverse, backed up to Skidmore Street, then sped away westbound on Skidmore.”

The suspects are described as “possibly” white males in their late teens or early 20s. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact the non-emergency line at (503) 823-3333.

This incident is very unfortunate.

According to reporters I spoke to tonight, the police say this is the fourth such incident they’ve responded to recently. Perhaps these young punks have found a prank they enjoy and they simply can’t get enough of it. Hopefully with the attention they’re getting this time around (at least two TV stations — KGW and KOIN — will feature the story on tonight’s newscast), they’ll stop doing it for good.

Keep your eyes peeled for that Honda Civic and I’ll let you know if there are any updates.

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car owner and driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, feel free to contact me at @jonathan_maus on Twitter, via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a supporter.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

39 Comments
oldest
newest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
scaryseth
scaryseth
11 years ago

Wow. What area and when did these other incidents occur?

Alexis
11 years ago

Media attention usually does not discourage people from pulling pranks. On the contrary…

CaptainKarma
CaptainKarma
11 years ago

Helmet cam!

Pete
Pete
11 years ago
Reply to  CaptainKarma

I’ve practiced pulling my smartphone out and activating the camera feature quickly – for this reason. I had a driver roll into me on purpose at a stop light last year (I was in the lane to turn left and he apparently believed I had no right to be there and wanted to do something about it). No damage to the bike, but I quickly snapped a shot of his license plate resting against my rear wheel and one of his face. Turns out he was driving a company van (a “courtesy shuttle”, ironically) and the GM of his company (car dealership) is a regular bike commuter, coach of the high school MTB team, and worked with his city to pass an ordinance against harassing cyclists (the second in CA). I’ve recently learned that the guy is no longer employed at that company.

lyle w.
lyle w.
11 years ago

So he blanked out on getting a plate, I guess.

pliny
pliny
11 years ago
Reply to  lyle w.

Understandable when you’ve been shot at. Still a good reason to get a helmet or handlebar cam if you can afford one.

Mindful Cyclist
Mindful Cyclist
11 years ago
Reply to  lyle w.

The news report said that there were witnesses that came out to help. I can understand the victim blanking it when he was dodging paint balls and being chased. I don’t know how the people that intervened would not have gotten it.

Chasing back on
Chasing back on
11 years ago

pepperspray. legal and effective.

q`Tzal
q`Tzal
11 years ago

+5
And it’s the only thing I can think of that doesn’t violate the Geneva Conventions.
Sadly there aren’t enough selection pressures remaining to keep thugs like this from polluting the gene pool.
They grow up, have kids and perpetuate the cycle of violence by ignoring it or encouraging it.
For once could Biff Tannen not make more Biff Tannen Jr’s?

BURR
BURR
11 years ago

attention is what drives these a-holes

q`Tzal
q`Tzal
11 years ago
Reply to  BURR

No.
Some people actually ENJOY inflicting pain and suffering on others.

One of the side effects of unregulated capitalism is that individuals are rewarded for taking everything they can from anyone.
Non-pathological people will stop extracting profit from customers/victims when they empathize with the suffering they are inflicting.
Those that enjoy harming others are financially rewarded more than those that don’t.
Ultimately sadists are able hide their proclivities once embedded in the middle to upper rungs of society but when they are young and without power they are driven to strike out at anything that appears weaker.

It has nothing to do with attention seeking, it is all about dopamine reward circuits wired to reward societally harmful behaviors.

John Liu
John Liu
11 years ago

Except that no-one “just happens to have” a loaded and charged paintball gun in the car. Obviously these are pre-planned drive-by paintball shootings.

I’m disappointed the cyclist or bystanders didn’t get a license plate.

Spiffy
Spiffy
11 years ago

there’s only one motor vehicle lane in this section of street so the bicycle was likely in the bike lane in order for the Honda to be able to pull up beside them… but if there was no bike lane then the bicycle rider is legally allowed the block the entire lane when it’s narrow… and flipping the bird is a legally protected form of free speech… so on narrow streets with no bike lane it’s perfectly legal to ride in the middle of the lane while blocking motor vehicle traffic and flipping them the bird… you’re welcome to vote to get that changed though…

you’re right, I see no mention of paintball pellets mentioned in any of the news articles… however I can think of no reason that a bicycle rider would be such a threat that you would need to assault them with your motor vehicle…

ordinary citizens aren’t frustrated with a complete lack of enforcement… there have been plenty of enforcement actions done by the police over the years, some that were specifically targeted at bicycle riders… but I’ve never seen anybody upset at bicycle riders disobeying laws that weren’t already disobeying laws themselves… many bicycle riders are upset about the lack of enforcement of motor vehicle drivers…

blocking traffic and assailing sidewalks? do you think that a bicycle traveling at 10 mph in the middle of the road is blocking traffic? because it’s not… it’s simply traveling… your impatience is nobody else’s problem, nor should it be… bicycles are legally allowed on sidewalks (except in the downtown core)… and bicycles free up resources rather than hog them… not even sure where you came up with that one…

you need to take the “Urban cycling” out of the title of your blog because you obviously aren’t a cyclist…

Dan
Dan
11 years ago

No need for me to block traffic. Traffic blocks itself.

Oregon Mamacita
Oregon Mamacita
11 years ago

My condolences to the bike rider. It sucks to be the focus of stupid violence.

Tom
Tom
11 years ago

can’t wait to see how KATU-2 handles this ….BREAKING NEWS ?

Joe
Joe
11 years ago

Just saying having a friend shot in the hip while on a training ride sometime ago it was very painful and the car sped off. hope they catch these clowns. ITS NOT FUNNY! and don’t blame the victim

televod
televod
11 years ago

At close enough range paintballs can cause permanent eye injury– in addition to whatever injuries would be sustained in a crash. Anyone writing this off as a “prank” needs to think again. This is assault, and the consequences for a victim could easily be dire.

Adams Carroll (News Intern)

Hi folks,

I just deleted a bunch of comments that were set off by a inflammatory comment left by someone named Vance Longwell. Mr. Longwell has been banned from commenting. Thanks.

Spiffy
Spiffy
11 years ago

it seems some of the replies were orphaned and ended up as root topics, even though they don’t stand on their own very well… might want to clean those up as well…

Chris I
Chris I
11 years ago
Reply to  Spiffy

Yes. My comment below makes me look a bit crazy now.

q`Tzal
q`Tzal
11 years ago

For just this story or site wide?

He didn’t last long this time around, did he…

David k
David k
11 years ago

I was egged around this area about a year ago by a red sedan.

jim
jim
11 years ago

He must have really pissed them off pretty bad for them to circle around the block and come back. Any word of what it was that set this off? I hope they catch these guys. They should take classes, do comunity services and take their mom to church,

KJ
KJ
11 years ago
Reply to  jim

Where was this information that suggests the victim provoked being PAINTBALLED? I didn’t see any, and Jon writes at the end of the piece ” the police say this is the fourth such incident they’ve responded to recently.”

jim
jim
11 years ago
Reply to  KJ

I’m not saying he did something, usually there are two sides of the story and we have only heard one.

K'Tesh
K'Tesh
11 years ago

And, people wonder why I ride with a GoPro camera these days.

Opus the Poet
11 years ago

In TX it wouldn’t have been a paintball gun. But considering the quality of shooters we get these days it would have been about the same results: background covered in missed shots and the intended target unharmed.

Sho
Sho
11 years ago

Always get a plate number

longgone
longgone
11 years ago

Sometimes just the last three digits, or letters on the plate is enough for police to go on. This is esp. true if a model and color of the car are known.

PorterStout
PorterStout
11 years ago

Talk about cowards. Shooting paintballs from the safety of their car, with multiple people inside against a lone cyclist. Circling the block and returning for a second encounter only shows they’re stupid on top of it.

Fred Lifton
Fred Lifton
11 years ago

Given the density of car and bike traffic, and the crappiness of the bike infrastructure on N. Vancouver, the real news story is that things like this happen so seldom.

Jolly Dodger
11 years ago

If you’ve ever been fired upon by a paint ball gun unexpectedly, know this…it sounds a lot like what they make silencer guns sound like in the movies. & when you hear it, it gives you no indication of the who or why…just the emotional impact of the endorphin rush and adrenaline that comes with any “fight or flight” situation. I had it happen when i worked at Kozmo.com back in 2000 on the NW Park blocks at around 11PM. Peeled off Flanders and escaped further entanglement, but was enraged for an hour or more. If i’d had a projectile weapon of my own…it would’ve been f’n on. & no regrets. The fear and suddenness of the ‘attack’ was enough i could have been thrown from my bike and died from a severe head injury. & if my life has so little meaning, well then…

& on that note…a little turquoise low rider mini truck with hydros has been releasing it’s air pressure as it rides by roadies to startle them intentionally…& yesterday a brilliant young teen with what i’m supposing is a new Mr. Microphone ‘app’, harassed me as i rode. The megaphony voice emitting from the vehicle sounded so like a police car P.A., that i about jumped the curb to get out of his way…

This kind of behavior borders on intimidation and should be reported more often…my only excuse in avoiding escalation personally is to allow for the possibility that the vehicle’s occupants may have deadly intent. Ride safe and be aware of fun seekers, because for lack of discernment of intent…there’s got to be a reasonable answer.

Dan
Dan
11 years ago
Reply to  Jolly Dodger

Interesting, I had someone use one of those microphones on me near the Helvetia Tavern. I ride a lot in the west hills, and my average vehicle interaction is always the worst within a 1/2 mile of that tavern in either direction. Seems to be a convergence of knuckleheads there….

Tom M
Tom M
11 years ago
Reply to  Dan

It’s called alcohol and inhibition reduction. Some people should simply not drink. But we already knew that. Sad part is they are the most likely to get behind the wheel of a car too…

Rol
Rol
11 years ago

“White males in their late teens or early twenties.” Big surprise there!

Allisa
9 years ago

Pretty awful, what a pointless use of paintball guns!

Logan Moran
3 years ago

Paintball is serious game man this is not a prank, Ricardo Medina may got deadly injury because of this, seriously dude they have to read some researched data about paintball , I am safety officer you know without proper safety you may even loss your life, there are some data about paintball deaths and injuries please read before doing these pranks.

John Bracket
2 years ago

Sometimes just the last three digits, or letters on the plate is enough for police to go on. This is esp. true if a model and color of the car are known.