(Photos: Jay Hamlin)
Back in July, Jay Hamlin was the victim of a scary assault and robbery while bicycling on the Springwater Corridor in southeast Portland.
Today the Multnomah County District Attorney announced they arrested a suspect in connection with the case and have charged him with felony robbery, assault and theft.
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20-year-old Diovionne Green was seen in a video (above) riding Hamlin’s high-end Colnago road bike valued at $10,000. Once that video circulated online and in the local media, someone was able to identify Green. Portland Police Bureau detectives were able to meet with Green yesterday and he subsequently admitted to the crimes and was booked into jail.
According to the DA’s statement (PDF), the bicycle has been returned to Hamlin. Green has been released and the investigation is ongoing.
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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Glad they found the guy. Please explain how they release someone suspected of assault, though.
Easy, that’s happens every day. I think it has something to do with how we vote.
Huh, it also has something to do with due process.
Are we to hold everyone suspected of a crime in jail until trial while we “gather” evidence?
I doubt voters would change the constitution because some people do not understand how our legal system works…..
I’d guess that this would be a charge of 4th degree assault — no need to post bail, and will probably only get probation or maybe a very short jail sentence. This kinda reminds me of that bike snob post a few years ago: “…If nothing else, all of this underscores what creeps me out about Portland, which is that there seems to be a precipitous drop-off between real-life “Portlandia” characters and meth-fueled drifters who disembowel people in front of trailers.”
It’s called bail. Green hasn’t been convicted of anything yet. Bail is required in many cases to ensure the defendant shows up for trial. Unfortunately it’s a system that’s horribly abused and many people who are not a significant flight risk spend many months and sometimes years in jail without ever being convicted of a crime because they are too poor to afford bail.
I agree with your sentiments and that can happen while a dangerous criminal sits in jail. It’s america and it happens all the time in other states which means it’s politically based. It could be said that we have a soft DA. The image I can’t get out of my head is the woman who had her orbital bone broken by a person who had 18 priors. She did nothing to provoke the person and he was also booked and released. He went to Washington co and days later was in custody. We can play this due process chat but the end is usually the same. Thanks for your thoughts tho.
He was arrested and his bail raised because he broke the terms or his bail agreement by committing further crimes which is a condition of all bail. That was his reason for not being released in Wash Co., not the politics of the adjacent county.
I just read the account of this in the Oregonian. According to affidavits, the thief was mad and needed a bike, and here came Hamlin on his, so, well, fait accompli…
He said he’s sorry and he’ll write the victim a nice letter.
Just another day on the Springwater.
Speaking for the larger human – not just cyclist – community, I have to say that it seems wrong that someone can injure another human that badly and then be able to walk away, awaiting trial. Isn’t there a high likelihood the alleged perpetrator will injure someone else before he comes to trial? And isn’t the quality of the evidence taken into account? – the video and the victim’s ID of the perp.
One more thing: Attacking a cyclist while the bicycle is in motion should constitute intent to injure and should count more heavily against the perp.
This won’t be his last crime either. Lock up the ***deleted by moderator*** and throw away the key.
Seriously? You know he’ll commit another crime based on what, maybe his race? If that were a good idea we’d have the lowest crime rates in the world: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_incarceration_rate
Nice try pulling the race card, but try again. How about the fact that someone has so little conscience and morals that they find it acceptable to attack another person, take their property, leave them injured, and ride off like nothing happened. *that* is how I know he’ll commit more crime. Take tour race baiting crap somewhere else.
It’s not like the solutions we gave in place are working well.
Who made the video, and why? They must have known this was “the bike”, something most passersby would not. Were they out looking? Was it just luck?
Portland is full of people who heard about this and know a stolen $10,000 bike when they see it. If he would have stolen a Wal-Mart bike he would still be riding it.
Most people in Portland also know there is a difference in stealing a 10k bike than a Walmart bike.
If he admitted to the crime, I fail to see why holding him is a due process issue. He admitted to
assaulting and stealing an expensive bike!
Mob rule generally happens online these days. At least until its time to mail in our ballots.
Wanna change things? Vote. Simple.
Great update and shows what the community grapevine can do.
Given the backstory of what the ‘accused’ thief said…I wonder if he even knew what he had been riding around town on?…perhaps not, and if it had been a Huffy, Schwinn, Giant, insert mass market bike name here____…would the video taker would have even noticed “that bike” passing them to take the video…after all a picture is worth a 1000 words and …an identification leading to an arrest in this case.
So glad that Jay finally can get his bike back. So true about the criminal, most likely he will be out on the street again committing another act, and as time goes the offenses usually get worse. Didn’t care about his impact on Jay, so don’t be surprised if he outright seriously injures/kills his next victim. There is a reason for the death penalty.
Seriously? How long have you’ve been able to tell the future? The guy committed a serious crime and he should be punished accordingly. Thankfully, we don’t punish people in this country for things they might do.
Hell, we don’t even punish them for things they do.
JRB, it isn’t a prediction. Unfortunately more of a statistic. Hopefully the young man will learn but in so many cases the opposite holds true, actions increase to the point where this individual could be locked up indefinitely. One of the stranger sights in prison is seeing a “new” defendant show up, and he knows everyone already. Their usual story is “I won’t get caught next time because…” and their life continues to slide downhill. I’ve seen it firsthand so many times when I did my time for 17k in bike fines, lots of good people in their and a few bad apples too.
Often in a case like this the thief learns that 1) Dead witnesses can’t ID you, and 2) Paint the bike so nobody recognizes it.
Yeah, lock em all up. Right now, with 4 %of the world population, we have 22% of the world’s incarcerated people. Let’s go for double digits!
The issue is that people who commit crimes sit in in jail. Just sit. Honestly, they should be working. Of course, this brings up issues. However, I think if vics knew that people were actually doing something to forward humanity vs just sitting, it would make a difference.
“Aggravated Theft in the First Degree
If the total value of the property stolen is $10,000 or more, other than a non-commercial motor vehicle, Oregon law designates a theft offense as “aggravated theft in the first degree,” which is a class B felony. ( § 164.057.) The punishment for aggravated theft in the first degree in Oregon is a maximum of 10 years in Oregon state prison and a fine not to exceed $250,000. Furthermore, if the victim of the theft was age 65 or older at the time of the offense, Oregon law requires that the offender receive a term of incarceration ranging from 16 months to 45 months. ( § 161.605, § 161.625, § 164.061.)
Mr. Hamlin, 69 years old, apparently had his $10,000 bike stolen by Mr. Green.