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Police have identified the man who was pepper-sprayed by Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler over the weekend as being a partner at a local law firm and the heir to a Seattle-based dairy company, according to police and reports.
A police report released Tuesday said Wheeler pepper-sprayed Cary Cadonau after he confronted the Democratic mayor leaving a restaurant on Sunday evening and accused him of not wearing a mask. He also allegedly tried to obtain a copy of the mayor’s meal receipt and surveillance footage from his time inside the restaurant, police said.
No charges have been filed in the incident. Cadonau didn't immediately respond to Fox News’ emailed request for comment.
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Wheeler had been dining in a tented area with Sam Adams, who served one term as Portland mayor, from 2009 to 2013. The men were walking to their cars when Cadonau approached, unmasked, and got close to the mayor's face while filming with his phone, according to police reports.
Wheeler told the man of current COVID-19 regulations, which allows people to take their mask off to eat or drink, according to a statement the mayor gave to police.
"He accused me of sitting in a restaurant without a mask," the report said. "In fact, I was in the tented area of a restaurant sitting at a table, and I informed him the current Covid regulations allow people to take their mask off for the purpose of eating and drinking."
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The mayor's statement continued: "He then accused me of other things to which I indicated he did not understand the rules and should probably have a better understanding if he was going to confront people about them."
Wheeler said that the man stood within 1 or 2 feet of him, and Wheeler became concerned for his safety and contracting COVID-19. Wheeler told the man to "back off" and that he was carrying pepper spray, which he would use if necessary. When the man did not listen, the mayor said he sprayed him in the eyes.
"He seemed surprised and backed off," Wheeler told police. "He made a comment like, ‘I can’t believe you just pepper-sprayed me.’"
Adams, whose statement to police was consistent with the mayor’s, suggested to Wheeler he should leave for his safety. Before doing so, Wheeler said he threw a bottle of water toward the man so that he could wash his eyes, he told police.
Cadonau told police when contacted Monday that he didn't want to discuss the matter because he was an attorney. He said the mayor should be held "accountable" but declined to elaborate, according to the police report.
Cadonau was asked why he attempted to get surveillance footage from the restaurant in Portland's Hillsdale neighborhood, as well as Wheeler's food and drink receipt from the pub, according to the report.
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"Mr. Cadonau said he wanted the receipt because it would show how much alcohol the mayor consumed that evening. I asked him multiple times if he wanted to talk about the incident, share his video footage, or provide his side of the story but he respectfully declined to say anything more," Officer Matt Miller wrote.
Stories from 2019 in The Oregonian/OregonLive identify an attorney named Cary Cadonau arguing in court over the sale of his family’s business, Alpenrose Dairy, to a Seattle-based company.
Wheeler, who was reelected in November, has been targeted by left-wing demonstrators, including some who smashed windows and set a small fire inside his condo building.
Fox News' Louis Casiano contributed to this report, as well as The Associated Press.
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