PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — An armed man in a Santa Claus suit was arrested in Newport on Thursday afternoon.
Shortly before 4:30 p.m., Newport officers were alerted of a man dressed up in a red Santa suit walking down Highway 101 with what appeared to be a handgun. Officers quickly located the man, who was identified as 25-year-old Jeffrey Stamps. While being searched for weapons, Stamps began resisting and went to pull a gun from his waistband.
Officers then tased Stamps, but it had little effect. The Santa imposter started to physically assault the officers before running across the highway. While running, he dropped the handgun in the middle of the road — which police recovered and discovered was an all-black, replica, CO2 powered BB gun.
After police tracked him down, Stamps surrendered and was promptly arrested. He now faces charges of assaulting a public safety officer, menacing, resisting arrest, interfering with a peace officer and second-degree disorderly conduct.
One officer was sent to a local hospital with injuries.