Editors Note: An Emerald employee was involved in this incident.
A man was arrested on 13th and Alder Street Friday around 10 p.m. for engaging in a physical altercation, according to Eugene Police Department officers and multiple witnesses. The man reportedly attacked several cars, as well.
The man was charged with criminal mischief, physical harassment, damaging a vehicle, disorderly conduct and interfering with a police officer.
A woman on scene, Debbie Green, claims that the assailant was Lee Ulbricht, who has been her roommate on Alder Street for the last month.
According to Green, the night started out with Ulbricht drinking in their shared residence next to Cafe Carpe Diem on Alder. Green said Ulbricht then decided to start freestyle rapping on the corner of Alder and 13th Avenue in front of the blue heron statue.
Around 10 p.m. witnesses say that two of the men who had been freestyle rapping got into an argument before the incident escalated.
“He started an argument about something then went into a shoving match and everybody started hitting each other,” Anthony Hickerson, a witness on scene, said.
Following the argument, the man started attacking strangers — anyone he could get his hands on, witnesses say — before he was hit in the face with a skateboard and temporarily disabled.
“I was trying to pick him up off the ground, say come back to my house. ‘This is not okay. Stop it,’” Green said.
Instead, she says that Ulbricht got off the ground and proceeded down Alder Street attacking both cars and people until police arrived on scene. He was arrested in the Sacred Heart Parking lot following a brief chase, police say.
“This guy got banged up pretty good … he had a busted up face and was resistive,” an officer said. “We had to kind of wrestle with him.”
Sergeant Harrison told the Emerald Saturday evening that police used pepper spray to subdue the resistant Ulbricht. Harrison said Ulbricht was then transported to the hospital due to the injury he suffered from the skateboard before he was taken to jail.
According to Lane Today, a man named Lee Deforest Ulbricht was arrested on four counts of felony assault, two counts of assault and reckless endangering in February of this year.
Green said Ulbricht told her he was on probation. She believes that alcohol played a significant factor in tonight’s events.
“He is my friend and I don’t want to see him in trouble,” Green said. “He’s not well. He needs help.”
Update (10:35 a.m. May 17): Ulbricht was arrested by Eugene police and jailed at 12:47 a.m. on May 17 the Lane County Inmate Information website confirms. He received four charges — disorderly conduct, harassment, criminal mischief, interfering with a police officer — that all require bail in order for him to be released. Disorderly conduct and harassment each require $280 worth of bail, criminal mischief requires $530 and interfering with a police officer requires $790.
Eder Campuzano contributed to the reporting of this piece