YACHATS – A 45-year-old transient already on probation for trying to strangle a woman in Lane County was arrested Christmas Eve on four charges after attacking a homeless man at the C&K Market and again later at the Yachats Commons where they had been camping overnight.
Christian J. Clothier is being held in the Lincoln County jail on $250,000 bail and is scheduled for a first court appearance Tuesday. He is accused of second-degree assault, strangulation, fourth-degree assault and harassment.
On Oct. 28 Clothier was convicted in Lane County of assault and menacing in the course of domestic violence from a September attack on a woman. He was put on probation for three years. Two conditions of probation were that he break no laws and not possess or consume alcohol.
But about 7 p.m. Dec. 24 Lincoln County Sheriff’s deputies were called to C&K Market where a homeless man told them that Clothier had punched him in the mouth at the store after being denied alcohol and then later attacked and strangled him outside the front door of the Commons.
The incident did not occur at the pavilion behind the Commons, where for the past two months volunteers have been opening it at night during bad weather to allow the homeless to sleep inside.
According to a probable cause affidavit filed in Lincoln County Circuit Court, Clothier punched another man in the mouth as he was leaving the market then later “cornered” the man at the Commons and began punching, kicking and choking him. Believing the victim “was going to be killed” two other men intervened and pulled Clothier away, according to the affidavit by Deputy Ben Cloud.
The victim returned to the market where staff there called 9-1-1. Cloud said the victim appeared to have a dislocated shoulder and was taken to Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital for treatment.
Cloud and Sgt. Derek Etheridge found Clothier near the Commons and arrested him.
A Yachats resident, Mike LaBare, is providing food for the victim and raising money to house the victim in a local motel until his shoulder heals. LaBare said Friday that anyone wishing to donate can mail a check to him via Post Office box 723, Yachats, 97498, or email him at mungencakes@charter.net. In addition to a discounted rate being provided at the Adobe motel, LaBare hopes to collect enough money to provide some physical therapy to help heal the victim’s shoulder.
LaBare said the victim — his first name is Steven — had been in town for 10 months, spending most nights in the entrance to the Commons.
No incidents at pavilion
Homeless men have been sleeping at the front of the Commons when the pavilion is not open or when they do not want to comply with its rules – which include no alcohol, fighting or pets.
The victim in the Christmas Eve attack had not been in the pavilion because he has a dog, said Pastor Bob Barrett of Yachats Community Presbyterian Church, who has helped organize the effort to shelter the homeless from winter storms.
“This could have happened anywhere,” Barrett said Wednesday. “There have been no incidents at the pavilion.”
The City Council approved opening the pavilion in November where homeless people could sleep during bad weather after Barrett and three other Yachats residents approach it with the idea. During rainy or cold weather the volunteers open it at 6 p.m. and close it at 8 a.m.
Barrett said the pavilion has been open every night recently and is used, on average by 2-3 people a night but sometimes has had up to six people. The shelter is dry, but not heated.
Barrett and others pitched the idea after seeing an increase of homeless people sleeping outside at the Little Log Church & Museum, at the Commons front door and other places around town —and then seeking daytime help at the church. The church offers food when its free pantry is open, as well as some dry clothing, blankets and connections to social services in Newport or Florence.
Under a new Oregon law, local government can keep homeless people from staying overnight on public property if there are other options available nearby. The opened pavilion is considered one such option.
Thanks for the quality reporting on this which was not evident elsewhere.
the transient who was assaulted had his arm dislocated, he fought back against his attacker kicking at him, and then the assailant tackled him to the ground and was punching him repeatedly in the face until the two other people (travelers), stepped in and pulled the attacker off of the victim and kept the attacker from doing more harm while the police were contacted and such.
also the travelers that pass through towns are not all bad or suffering from mental health issues anymore than townsfolk suffer from depression or bipolar as well as ocd and just regular mood swings, the difference is, that others who may be on the streets, might have their lives more public sometimes than townspeople with drama privately, doesn’t change the amount of drama in peoples lives or differentiate the impact of such.
basically peoples home lives still have stuff that is hard to deal with and can impact others in the community, sometimes can be even harder for the community to pretend that there are no problems going on, just because you don’t see the suffering of people around you, doesn’t mean its not there. there’s stigma of hardship all over the place.
We should not be rolling out the welcome mat for transients. It is a mistake to use the pavilion as a crash pad for these people, many of whom have mental health, drug, alcohol issues. This latest incident, is just an example of what happens when you enable that element.
Don’t want to follow the rules translates to … I refuse to be a contributing member of society but want to benefit from others hard work and sacrifices. How many of these homeless “men” that are being welcomed next to a children’s playground and pre-school are repeat criminals? Do a little non-biased research on the homeless crises here in Oregon and you will see that by enabling criminal behavior the homeless crises has been made a million times worse. If you dig just a little below the surface you will find that many repeat offenders live on the streets here in Oregon. I don’t understand why we aren’t doing all we can to keep our children safe. I honestly don’t get it.