Knife-wielding neighbor terrorized and threatened families: lawsuit filed

Two families living in an Oregon apartment complex were repeatedly terrorized by a neighbor accused of showing up at their door with a knife last summer and threatening to kill them, a new lawsuit says.

According to the complaint filed on June 27, the harassment was recorded on cameras installed at the front doors of both families and continued because management at The Landings at Morrison in Gresham and the police failed to intervene despite receiving several reports.

Now the families are suing the company, seeking $6 million in damages.

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In a statement to McClatchy News on July 3, the families’ attorney, Greg Kafoury, said that for nearly three months, “corporate landlords and the Gresham police have rebuffed their requests for help.”

Sarah Cagann, a city spokeswoman, declined McClatchy News’ request for comment July 3 because of the ongoing litigation. The Gresham Police Department and The Landings at Morrison did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

It all started on June 29, 2023, when Dominic Austin, a 19-year-old neighbor of the family, went outside the apartment where the mother and daughter lived and “threw his fist through their door” and used a “racial slur,” the complaint reads.

According to the complaint, the incident was recorded on a Ring camera that was provided to the apartment complex.

The next day, Austin returned to their door with a knife and said, “Why don’t you stop being a (expletive)?” according to the complaint, which says one of the women called 911 to file a police report.

That same day, Austin tried to break into another apartment where a pregnant woman lived with her husband and 2-year-old son, prompting the family to purchase and install a Ring camera, the complaint says.

According to the indictment, over the following months he visited their doors, as well as the doors of the other family, threatened them and came with a knife. In connection with this, he allegedly hurled numerous racist insults at these families.

“No action taken”

On the evening of July 28, Austin walked outside the apartment of a woman who was seven months pregnant while holding a knife, the complaint says. A Ring video released to McClatchy News by the families’ attorneys shows Austin with the gun, approaching her door and stabbing her.

Then they heard him say, “You want to get paralyzed (expletive)? … You’re lucky to be alive.”

The woman sent a threatening email to the apartment complex, shared a video of the Ring and filed a police report — but “no action was taken,” the complaint says.

According to the complaint, both families lived in fear because the apartment complex manager did not attempt to evict Austin.

After both families said he threatened to kill them and repeatedly showed up at their door with a knife, the apartment complex sent notices to Austin and his father, with whom he lived, demanding they “vacate” their residence by Sept. 13, the complaint says.

However, according to the complaint, Austin was still there when he showed up at the mother and daughter’s apartment on Sept. 15 and tried to break in.

“When he found the door closed, he began cutting and stabbing it,” threatened to rape his daughter and said, “You are about to be murdered,” the complaint states.

Austin was arrested on Sept. 19, according to the indictment, which names the town of Gresham and The Landings at Morrison as defendants.

“The defendants ignored our clients’ phone calls, emails and videos of their crazy roommate repeatedly brandishing a knife, threatening them and trying to break into their homes,” Kafoury said. “Fortunately, our clients live in a society where civil jury trials take place. Only in front of a jury will these powerful defendants be held accountable.”

Austin faces 33 counts of harassment, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office announced Oct. 2.

Mental health experts have since deemed him incompetent to stand trial, causing the proceedings to be delayed, OregonLive reports.

An attorney representing Austin in the criminal case did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on July 3.

Court records show a hearing on Austin’s competency to stand trial is scheduled for July 16.