A 32-year-old naked man who suddenly gave a Portland police officer a bear hug, then wrestled her Taser away from her and tried to shock her was sentenced Friday to the state mental hospital.

Hector Alberto Ilias will be under the supervision of the state Psychiatric Security Review Board for up to five years -- meaning he will spend some time at the Oregon State Hospital with the goal of getting treatment and being released long before five years is up.

If not for the restraint shown by the officer he assaulted, Ilias might not have survived the December 2014 encounter that led to the hearing in Multnomah County Circuit Court.

After Ilias grabbed the Taser from Officer Elizabeth Willard, Willard decided to step back and await back-up instead of using her gun, according to a probable cause affidavit.

"We were very happy she decided not to shoot him," said defense attorney Lynne Dickison. "She did an excellent job. I'm sure it was a scary situation for her. Mr. Ilias is not a small guy.'"

The 6-foot-1 Ilias weighed 220 pounds at the time of his arrest, according to jail records.

Willard had responded to Holladay Park next to the Lloyd Center MAX station after a caller reported that Ilias was masturbating in front of adults and children. One woman later told police that Ilias singled out her young niece and stated, "Oh, that's the one I want" as he licked his fingers.

Willard found Ilias sitting on a bench in the park wearing boxer shorts, but when she got out of her patrol car and smiled in an attempt to put him at ease, Ilias took off his boxer shorts, authorities say. Ilias stepped toward the officer, ignoring her commands to stop and sit down, according to the affidavit. That's when the officer stepped back and started to draw her Taser and Ilias grabbed her in a bear hug.

The officer managed to remove the cartridge before Ilias stood back, pulled the trigger and the Taser activated, according to the affidavit. But with no cartridge, the Taser didn't shock the officer.

"The officer considered other force options and chose to put distance between herself and (Ilias)," the affidavit said.

Within seconds, back-up officers began to arrive. Ilias was arrested without injury to himself. But Willard suffered a severe sprain to her wrist.

According to court records, Ilias' criminal history began five years before the Holladay Park confrontatoin and includes several convictions. One of them is for attempted first-degree rape.

Ilias also is known by the name Lunarness Mendoza.

Although court records don't state a specific diagnosis, they indicate Ilias has struggled with his mental health. He was sent to the Oregon State Hospital to be evaluated in the attack on the officer before the prosecution and Ilias agreed to a "stipulated facts trial."

The trial was essentially a hearing where Ilias agreed to certain facts and a judge found him "guilty except for insanity" of public indecency, assaulting a public safety officer and attempting to assault a public safety officer.

Ilias represented himself, with legal advice from Dickison, the defense attorney.

Dickison said Ilias' case reveals vast deficiencies in society's mental health safety net. People with mental illnesses can't afford the help they need, can't find medications that work for them or they find services offered severely lacking, he said.

When Ilias is receiving proper mental health care, he lives a law-abiding life, Dickison said.

-- Aimee Green

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