A Portland man was sentenced to four years in prison on Monday for trespassing in a grocery store and beating and strangling an employee, causing her to lose consciousness.
Vonnon Wentworth, 54, pled guilty last week to first-degree burglary in connection with the crime. Four more offenses in the case, including strangling, first-degree assault, and menacing, were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
According to the probable cause affidavit, on March 21, police were dispatched to Everyday Deals, a grocery store in Southeast Portland, after receiving allegations that a trespasser refused to leave and became belligerent.
When cops arrived, they discovered food thrown across the store floor and a group of individuals holding down Wentworth, according to the affidavit.
A female store employee said police she observed Wentworth approaching the establishment and knew he had previously trespassed on the property. She warned him he couldn’t come inside, but he did anyway, according to court papers.
The employee then followed him inside and repeatedly told him he needed to leave. Wentworth then moved toward the store’s freezer department, where he set his cellphone on a shelf to video the exchange before walking away.
When the employee grabbed for the phone in the freezer, Wentworth punched her in the left side of the face, causing her to black out and fall against the freezer. He then grabbed her throat and pinned her against a wall, according to the affidavit.
Several witnesses at the store informed police that Wentworth punched the woman, and several individuals interfered to break up the fight.
Wentworth said police he went to the store to get milk when he was approached and attacked by the manager, and that the entire incident would be recorded on film, according to court filings.
At Monday’s sentencing, Wentworth’s attorney told the judge that he had been struggling with substance abuse and addiction, as well as mental health difficulties, for over a decade and had sought voluntary treatment.
When asked by the judge if he felt he was protecting himself during the grocery store confrontation, Wentworth responded yes.
Wentworth will be eligible for the Alternative Incarceration Program, which offers rehabilitation and treatment.
Wentworth will be subject to post-prison monitoring, and he was also sentenced to 13 months for a separate firearms conviction stemming from a 2023 incident. He will spend that time concurrently with the four-year sentence.
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