(CNN) – Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler told police he used pepper spray on a man who molested him outside a restaurant on Sunday for COVID-19 mask policies.
« He didn’t wear a face mask and came within a foot or two of my face while he was taping me, « Wheeler said in a voluntary statement to the Portland Police Bureau.
The police do not know the identity of the sprayed man and have not received any complaints so far, they said. When asked about the incident during a press conference on Monday, Wheeler said, « I can tell you there was an incident, I filed a police report, and that’s all I can tell you now. »
That Mayor’s office told CNN Monday night that Wheeler had no further comment to make.
In the statement to police, Wheeler said he was approached by a man he did not recognize on Sunday outside McMenamins Hillsdale Brewery have. The man said he photographed the mayor while he was in the tent of the restaurant and accused the mayor of being in the restaurant without a mask against COVID-19 guidelines, Wheeler said in the statement.
Wheeler said, he told the man that people can remove a mask for eating and drinking in a restaurant, the statement said. Then he walked towards his car and the man followed him, he said.
« I was immediately concerned about my personal safety as I was recently physically approached in a similar situation, » said Wheeler. The mayor says he first verbally warned that he was ready to use the pepper spray and then sprayed the man in the eyes.
Wheeler, 58, was spotted by a group of people in a restaurant earlier this month faced who shouted profanity. « A member of the group started pounding the mayor and made physical contact with him. » According to the police report, Wheeler was dating former Portland Mayor Sam Adams at the time, who confirmed the incident to an officer . Adams did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.
Adams tried to videotape the encounter but was only able to record the audio, which is consistent with Wheeler’s story, the police report said.
Wheeler and Adams both say Wheeler threw the man a water bottle so he could wash his eyes but didn’t stay at the scene. Shortly thereafter, a member of the mayor’s staff called the police to initiate the report.
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