An Oregon man has filed a $10 million lawsuit citing “emotional distress” after being shot while in the act of committing a burglary.
The owner of Touchstone Granite & Marble in Portland, Oregon, James Grant, shot the man three times after he broke in to steal a bag of tools before dawn on March 6, 2023.
When Grant arrived at work at five thirty in the morning, the man was already inside the building. The two men presented drastically different accounts of the same encounter, making what actually happened less clear.
The man says in his lawsuit that he entered the closed building through a damaged portion of a garage door while homeless, freezing, and sleep-deprived. He claims he was searching for warmth and food, but he also freely admits he intended to steal the drill from the bag he picked up.
When Grant confronted him, the man claims he apologized right away and fled towards the garage door. He says Grant chased him while hurling heavy tiles and a coffee mug.
The burglar also claims that, in an attempt to defend himself, he reached for some bolt cutters but couldn’t open the door. Grant is accused of then leaving the room and coming back with a handgun.
He says Grant told him, “Yeah. You’re going to die, dude.” He then shot him in the chest at close range and fired again as he tried to squeeze through the damaged garage door.
The business owner tells a very different story
“When he picked up the bolt cutter and raised it and he was starting to come at me. I was lucky I can run about 15 feet, grab my gun and came back he was just standing there still ready,” James Grant told KPTV News. “He started coming at me this way. Again, I didn’t look back and see how close he was because my mindset changed to my life’s totally in danger now.”
Grant said that despite his repeated orders, the intruder refused to get on the ground.
“The whole thing happened so fast I finally had to shoot,” Grant told KPTV News. “I only shot him when he was standing looking at me ready to come at me and then I just let him go because I just wanted it to be over.”
Grant dialed 911 when the intruder fled the building. Police found the burglar on the street, and paramedics transported him to the hospital in stable condition. He says he suffered a collapsed lung, wounds to his chest, and shattered bones in his right arm.
The victim is now asking for $10,000,000 in damages for battery, assault, negligence and intentionally inflicting emotional distress.