Man Who Struck Three Women With SUV Says He Lived in His Car and Used Cannabis Daily to Treat Chronic Pain

What we know—and don’t know—about the man who plowed his SUV into three women at Portland State.

The scene of a hit-and-run at Portland State University. (Carter Maynard / KATU-TV)

The man who ran over three women on the Portland State University campus with an SUV on May 25 told investigators he had been living in his car for a year and used cannabis daily to treat chronic pain.

Greg Porter, a 61-year-old who has lived in Portland for six years, plowed his 2005 Mazda Tribute into the women as they were walking on a sidewalk on the PSU campus around 10 am. The crash—and eyewitness accounts that Porter gunned his engine after hitting one victim—sparked fear the incident might have been an intentional attack.

Yet Porter's motive for the hit-and-run, if it was deliberate, remains unclear. He told police he had not used weed for two days prior to the incident. Porter also said he didn't know any of the victims.

Porter's narrative of living in his car is at odds with earlier news reports that he was living until May 1 in a Southeast Portland residential rehabilitation facility. Officials with Secora Health and Rehabilitation of Cascadia could not immediately be reached for comment.

Porter told police he received $1,425 each month in social security payments. He said he had been living in the Portland area for six years and had previously lived in Texas, where he had been convicted of larceny in 1976 and a DWI in 1996.

The charging documents say Porter dropped out of school after the 9th grade and says that Porter claims he has no previous mental health diagnosis, but the police report flagged him with a note that read "caution: suicidal/mental health."

Porter waived a probable cause hearing before a judge, and was scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday afternoon on multiple charges of attempted murder, reckless driving and failure to perform the duties of a driver.

He was charged with multiple counts of attempted murder, reckless driving, and failing to perform the duties of a driver. The women remain in Oregon Health & Science University Hospital with serious injuries.

This post has been updated with additional information.

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