Portland Man Crashes SUV into Paint Store, Breaks into Home after Fleeing Scene
A man crashed his SUV into a Sherwin-Williams paint store in outer East Portland on July 21, causing minor injuries to two people and significant damage to the business. The driver then fled the scene on foot, but was later arrested after breaking into a nearby home.
The incident occurred at around 4:45 p.m. at the intersection of S.E. 97th Avenue and Division Street. According to witnesses, the driver ran northbound through an alleyway for about four blocks before jogging west and then north again, eventually reaching the residential area where he broke into a home.
Officers established a perimeter around the neighborhood and converged on the address after receiving reports of a burglary in progress. They found the suspect inside the home and arrested him. During the investigation, officers determined that the man in custody was indeed the same driver who had crashed into the paint store and fled.
The driver had also hidden a loaded firearm inside a residential mailbox along his route to the home invasion. Officers recovered the gun and seized it as evidence. The suspect, 55-year-old John Foster Graff of Troutdale, was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center on charges including Reckless Endangerment, Felon in Possession of a Firearm, Burglary in the First Degree, and more.