NEARLY TWO MONTHS after he found himself sprawled on a sidewalk at Portland State University, punch after punch hitting his face, musician Randy Grenawalt looks okay. The black eyes have healed, and people don’t blanch when he tries to hawk his hip-hop CDs.

More importantly, the disorderly conduct charge he was slapped with after the May 31 scrum has been dropped, a turnabout that happened only after his public defender, Chris O’Connor, sent prosecutors a cell-phone video of the fight.

But here’s what still stings, Grenawalt says: While he had to endure hours in jail, and then back-and-forth negotiations with the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office, the guy who beat him up hasn’t faced any consequences at all.

And in a case that could raise questions about prosecutors’ willingness to look beyond the initial account of a crime, even when new evidence is provided, the DA’s office now says the other man, Ricardo Chaney—likely never will. No matter what the video shows.

“It was partially instigated by me,” Grenawalt says, admitting he first poked a finger in Chaney’s chest. “But he beat the crap out of me… The police didn’t interview anybody else.”

Chaney, who spoke with PSU cops first and is listed as the victim in a police report obtained by the Mercury, did not return messages seeking comment.

But according to accounts both men supplied to cops, they agree on how the fight started: Grenawalt was selling CDs (he gigs and records under the moniker Acheron Flow) near Smith Memorial Student Union when Chaney walked by and said he didn’t want to buy Grenawalt’s music. Grenawalt followed Chaney to a nearby streetcar stop and confronted him. They got loud, and then came the finger jabbed into Chaney’s chest.

From there, the stories diverge. Chaney said Grenawalt looked like he had a weapon, and that he tackled Grenawalt to keep safe. Grenawalt, in a story mostly supported by the video, admitted to stashing brass knuckles in his back pocket and punching Chaney with his bare fist, but also said Chaney whaled on him before taking his phone, keys, and the brass knuckles. The video shows that when Grenawalt demanded his stuff back, Chaney pounded him anew.

Because the brass knuckles were Grenawalt’s—never mind that cops found them only because Chaney took them—he was arrested, excluded from PSU, and taken to jail, eventually to be charged the next day, June 1.

“And nothing happens to this other guy,” said O’Connor, who sent the video to prosecutors a week after the fight. “He’s roaming the streets free to do what he wishes.”

Jeff Howes, in charge of misdemeanors for the DA’s office, wouldn’t say the video led prosecutors to drop the disorderly conduct charge—”the video, I don’t think, disproves disorderly conduct,” he said, in fact—but did acknowledge the weapons charge (Grenawalt paid a $200 fine for possessing the brass knuckles) “was stronger.”

“There’s a lot of give and take, thrust and parry in negotiations,” he said. “Mr. O’Connor suggested we take a look at the video, and he asked us to dismiss the charges.”

But Howes defended his office’s decision not to pursue Chaney, a decision he said Grenawalt initially agreed with. The video, he says, doesn’t show how the fight started—leaving Grenawalt’s jab as the official spark.

“I wish it was backed up a couple more minutes,” said Howes.

Grenawalt, standing with a handful of CDs near Pioneer Square recently, seemed conflicted.

“I could go after this guy,” he said. “But I’m not the type to seek revenge.”

Denis C. Theriault is the Portland Mercury's News Editor. He writes stories about City Hall and the Portland Police Bureau, focusing on issues like homelessness, police oversight, insider politics, and...

18 replies on “The Curious Tale of the Tape”

  1. Is this a fucking Joke? You guys sound like your defending the fucking moron who is putting his finger in peoples CHESTS, AND he carries BRASS KNUCKLES! Get your shit straight before somebody does that to you…It is AGAINST THE LAW to touch ANYONE, unless your a Doctor Dentist Cop Massage Person Hairstylist or Cop…. Thats it bitches.
    “he could go after this guy, but im not that type of guy”… Yea, your the kind of guy who gets his ass kicked even though hes got weapons…. Fuck head.

  2. So Grenawalt was carrying brass knuckles, followed some random guy, started a fight and then got his ass kicked? I’m not really seeing the miscarriage of justice here.

  4. I don’t see how the brass knuckles would be an issue, so long as they were NOT used during the fight. I’m more curious as to WHY Grenawalt followed Chaney to the streetcar stop.

    It sounds like either TWO men should’ve been arrested that day – or NOONE at all. As long as Genawalte didn’t have to be hospitlized and both men were able to walk away, it seemed like cops shouldn’t have gotten involved at all. But Grenawalt did admit to started it in the first place, even if Chaney’s reaction may have been abit over-zealous.

  7. I suppose they are, so is pot still. So are alot ov things folks walk around with in their pockets.

    But if a rolled joint happened to fall out ov Grenawalt’s pocket during a fight, i don’t think he should be charged with possession too. Charge him with what-ever crime was IN PROGRESS allegedly. Anything beyond that is over-prosecution.

  9. I just read the article and watched the video again, and now I’m not sure what to think. On the one hand, Grenawalt started the whole thing. On the other hand,Chaney was frighteningly aggressive, especially when he attacked Grenawalt the second time, after Grenawalt demanded his stuff back. Then again, maybe Chaney felt it was necessary to be that aggressive for his own safety; if a belligerent guy with brass knuckles were following me around, I’d be worried about my safety.

  12. What I don’t get is why did this asshead Grenawalt think it was okay to follow the guy who said he wasn’t interested in buying his crappy cds? Instead of following and harrassing the guy he could of maybe sold his crap music to someone else. Who knows? But by his attitide in this situation I can’t see that he ever sells anything to strangers. What a total douch. He got beat up for being a dickhead! Good. Hope the dumb tard learns his lesson.

  18. For those who do not comprehend the issue with the Brass Knuckles…,
    In the state of Oregon – and many other states also – Brass Knuckles are considered “Dangerous/Restricted Weapons”, much like a Butterfly Knife, they are illegal to carry around in public.
    Simply by “Brandishing”(including a brief display) them during any altercation, verbal or physical, is a criminal act. The Whiner who got his clock cleaned for putting his hands on another person during a confrontation, which he instigated, SHOULD be facing a Class C Felony charge right now, not sniveling for the Merc, like a little B–CH.

    It is only due to two things that such is not the case: 1) He got his clock thoroughly cleaned in the incident, and 2) The Multnomah County DA has restricted the number and types of cases they will undertake over the past three + years now.

    He might not have felt very lucky after he got himseelf a thorough Beat Down, but I asssure you, he is.

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