Thomas Peacock

Police found out about a man suspected of raping a 22-year-old woman along the Springwater Corridor in Gresham last week from the accused man's brother, investigators said.

Thomas Peacock, 51, showed up at his brother's Gresham home on his bike wearing muddy pants and carrying two knives shortly after the March 18 attack, according to court records filed Friday.

That caught his brother's attention because Peacock usually carried a single knife. Melvin Peacock became suspicious, he later told a detective, when he heard about the assault and the suspect's description on the news.

The attacker wore a red jacket, police said. So did Thomas Peacock, his brother said.

Thomas Peacock, convicted of attempted murder in the 1980s and recently released from prison, was arraigned Friday on charges of first-degree rape, unlawful sexual penetration, first-degree sexual abuse, first-degree kidnapping, first-degree robbery and unlawful use of a weapon.

He was placed in an isolation cell at the downtown Portland jail because he told staff he might hurt himself or others, court records show.

Gresham police said the woman was sexually assaulted after she flagged down a man riding a mountain bike and asked him for help when she got a flat on her bike, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court.

The man began to hand her a bike pump when he grabbed her forearm, the affidavit said. He took a knife from the woman that she had clipped to her front pants pocket and held it to her throat, then told her that he'd kill her if she screamed or tried to leave and forced her into a secluded area near the path, police said.

He raped her, but quickly dressed and left after the woman told him that she was 12 years old, she told police. She went to a nearby Walmart and called police. She identified Peacock on Wednesday from a lineup of six photos, the affidavit said.

The woman told a detective that Peacock stole her knife and money from her purse after the attack.

The detective interviewed Peacock and he denied assaulting the woman but acknowledged riding his bike on the path that day, according to the affidavit.

At the time of the attack, Peacock was wanted on a parole violation. He had been released from prison in August. He was first sent to prison in 1984 on a 20-year sentence for burglary and robbery in Multnomah County.

On May 1, 1988, Peacock and two other men walked away from the farm annex of the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem in their prison blue uniforms, according to state Department of Correction records.

The group found its way to a Plaid Pantry in Salem, where they attacked a 63-year-old man, according to an account in The Oregonian.

Jamese Rhoades, who was a Marion County deputy district attorney at the time, said the escapees tried to slit the man's throat with a dull box cutter, and when he didn't die, they struck him in the head with a railroad spike.

"They wanted this guy's car. They wanted money," said Rhoades, who became a Circuit Court judge and is now retired. "They wanted alcohol. ... They probably wanted to get to Portland."

The fugitives fled in a stolen car, but an attentive rookie police officer gave chase and cornered them on a dead-end street, Rhoades said. As the other two men fled on foot, Peacock found himself stuck in the car and proceeded to drink as much of the stolen beer that he could until his recapture, she said.

The severity of the escape and attack led to an additional 30 years added to Peacock's sentence. During his time in prison, Peacock was also found guilty of possession of a weapon in 1987 and attempting to supply contraband in 1993, said Betty Bernt, a Department of Corrections spokeswoman.

The Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision followed guidelines that allowed for his early release on Aug. 21, 2015, said Brenda Carney, executive director.

By Oct. 15, the board issued a warrant for his arrest for violations reported by his parole officers, she said. He was suspected of using controlled substances, had not reported to his parole officer or reported a change of address, she said.

Before his release, a psychological evaluation revealed that Peacock has a "mental emotional disturbance, deficiency, condition or disorder" the could lead to other crimes, according to board records. But the board also found that Peacock could be "adequately controlled with supervision and mental health treatment which are available in the community."

The parole board must follow complicated formulas to calculate when a prisoner may be released that include one set of guidelines for people charged before Nov. 1, 1989, and a different set of guidelines for supervision after that date, Carney said.

Peacock was arrested without incident Thursday near the Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge in southeast Portland, Gresham police said in a news release.

-- Jim Ryan and Tony Hernandez

jryan@oregonian.com; thernandez@oregonian.com