Violent Portland protests hampered police efforts on Olympic runner's stalking case: ESPN

The delay in the Portland police department's response to a stalking case involving a U.S. Olympic runner was due in part to the violent protests that engulfed the city for much of last year, ESPN reports.

ESPN published a lengthy story Tuesday about the terrifying ordeal of Portland resident and elite distance runner Emily Infeld, who was stalked for three years by a mentally disturbed man named Craig Donnelly who slipped through the cracks of the public health and criminal justice systems. A spokesman said the police were hampered in part by being backed up with the constant protests in Portland in the aftermath of George Floyd's murder in Minneapolis.

Donnelly sent Infeld threatening messages, repeatedly violated stalking protection orders, and even moved to within miles of her Portland home. The threats and harassment affected the career of the elite distance runner, who competed in the 2016 Olympics but failed to qualify for the 2020 team, in part due to the stress of being stalked. Oregon's Multnomah County charged Donnelly with six misdemeanor counts of violating a stalking protection order in July 2020, but he fled the state after being interviewed by police.

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Nearly a year later, he was picked up in Tennessee on his outstanding Oregon warrant. Asked why it took that long to follow up on Infeld's case, ESPN reports, "[Lt. Greg] Pashley said that officers were tied up with the daily, sometimes violent, protests that engulfed the city after George Floyd's death last summer. Prosecutors were similarly slammed."

"I know that a lot of crime victims felt as though their cases weren't being followed up on and, in many cases, they weren't," Pashley said.

"These are horrible situations for victims, and as police officers we want to be as responsive as we can. At some point, there are limitations on what we can do if a person leaves our state. Throw on top of it the fact of what was going on last summer. They were completely hampered by the reality we were all faced with."

At least 115 officers have left the Portland force since last July after some of the nation's most destructive riots devastated the city throughout last summer. The violence amid depolicing in Portland has drawn some media attention in 2021, although correspondents from outlets like CNN and the New York Times were dismissive of such reports at the time.

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Donnelly is now in federal custody for cyberstalking and interstate violation of a protection order. A former runner himself, his mental health deteriorated after having a seizure in 2016, which led to emergency surgery that removed part of his brain. According to the report, he began to display erratic, delusional behavior and failed to receive proper mental health care.

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He became obsessed with Infeld and began harassing her in 2018, leading her to flee Portland for Atlanta with her fiancé when Donnelly moved close by in 2020. She called Portland police every week for updates while in Atlanta; one officer reported back to her that Donnelly told them he was "out to get" her, but he wasn't arrested because he hadn't been read his Miranda rights yet.