A Silverton man on Wednesday pointed a handgun at a woman at the Cherriots transit center in downtown Salem before pistol-whipping a second woman and repeatedly kicking her as she laid the ground, according to the Salem Police Department.
Enrique K. Hatfield, 21, was charged on Thursday in Marion County Circuit Court with assault in the second and third degrees as well as two counts of unlawful use of a weapon, according to court records.
Police responded around 3 p.m. on Wednesday to a report of a person armed at the transit mall in the 200 block of Northeast High Street.
Transit security reported the man was unable to board a bus because its doors were closed before he shouted threats and displayed a handgun, according to Salem police spokeswoman Angela Hedrick.
The man then pointed the gun at a passerby while fleeing, police said in a statement Thursday.
Officers found the suspect in the area of Northeast Court and Church Streets, “where witnesses also reported the man used the grip of a gun to strike a female bystander in the face, knocking her to the ground and kicking her repeatedly,” according to the police statement.
Police arrested Hatfield after a brief foot chase and found a handgun on him. He was booked into the Marion County Jail, where he remained in custody Thursday afternoon, the jail’s roster showed.
Paramedics treated the victim at the scene.
Hatfield also has pending charges of harassment and third-degree theft which prosecutors filed in December 2023 in Clackamas County Circuit Court.
The Canby Police Department arrested Hatfield two weeks ago based on a warrant after he failed to appear for his arraignment in that case. He was subsequently released.
Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053.
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Ardeshir Tabrizian has covered criminal justice and housing for Salem Reporter since September 2021. As an Oregon native, his award-winning watchdog journalism has traversed the state. He has done reporting for The Oregonian, Eugene Weekly and Malheur Enterprise.
