It happened in the middle of the day. Not late at night. Not in some deserted alley. But in a busy Costco parking lot in Salem, with people around and normal life happening just a few feet away.
On February 6, just after noon, a woman finished her shopping, loaded her purchases into her car, and walked her cart back. That’s it. That’s all she was doing. According to police, that’s when a man approached her, assaulted her, struck her in the head with what appeared to be a handgun, and stole her fanny pack.
She was left bleeding in the parking lot with significant head and facial injuries and had to be transported to Salem Hospital. Witnesses tried to step in, but the suspect fled, turning an ordinary errand into a violent crime scene in seconds.
Police later located the suspect vehicle, a white Toyota Corolla, and after a search involving multiple agencies and a police canine, arrested 45-year-old Jorge Reyes-Suarez of Salem. Officers recovered what was later identified as a realistic-looking pellet gun. He was booked into the Marion County Jail on charges including first-degree robbery and first-degree assault, with an additional felony eluding charge expected.
This is where the conversation needs to get uncomfortable.
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This didn’t happen at night. It didn’t happen in a high-crime area that people are warned to avoid. It happened during lunch hour, in a crowded parking lot, at one of the most routine places imaginable. And that matters.
For years, Oregonians have been told that this state is safe, that violence like this is rare, that it won’t happen to “regular people” just running errands. But stories like this keep piling up, and they’re harder and harder to ignore.
No one expects to need to defend themselves while returning a shopping cart. But the reality is that women are being attacked in public, in daylight, in places we all assume are safe. And when seconds matter, police are minutes away.
This is exactly why more women are choosing to take personal safety seriously. That means situational awareness. That means training. And yes, for many, that means obtaining a concealed carry permit and learning how to responsibly defend themselves if the unthinkable happens.
This isn’t about fear. It’s about reality.
Oregon is not the place it once was. Pretending otherwise doesn’t make anyone safer. Crimes like this show that it can happen anywhere, at any time, to anyone. And relying solely on the idea that “nothing bad will happen here” is no longer enough.
The woman in this case survived, and that matters. But the fact that she had to endure this at all, in the middle of the day, should make every Oregonian stop and think.
