Portland police announce arrest in Grant Street crash

Update: the charges against Evert Aristides Delgado Menjivar were dropped in February 2023.

A man who turned himself into Portland police Friday is facing a string of charges tied to an Oct. 2 crash on Grant Street.

Evert Aristides Delgado Menjivar, 28, has been charged with aggravated attempted murder, kidnapping, criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon, reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon and assault.

He is being held at the Cumberland County Jail and his bail has been set at $25,000. Police say he had been communicating with detectives after warrants were issued for his arrest.

Officers were sent to Grant Street near Deering Avenue shortly after 10 p.m. the evening of Sunday, Oct. 2, following reports of a fight, gunshots and a car crash. Investigators said the following day they believed there was gunfire before and after the crash, but that no one was shot.

They found a 28-year-old man who had crashed his vehicle into a parked car, bleeding from a head injury. The victim has not been identified by police. Police don’t believe the event was random and are not releasing any information about the relationship between the victim and Delgado Menjivar, Maj. Robert Martin said.

“I’m proud of the work done to make this arrest,” Portland Police Chief Heath Gorham said in a written statement Friday. “My officers and staff have been taxed by the number of recent violent crimes. They are dealing with armed individuals at an alarming rate and arrests like these will help make the city a safer place.”

Portland police announced last month that they would be ramping up patrols amid a spike in violent crime. As of Sept. 9, shootings had more than doubled in the city from the same point last year, with 42 reported, and there had been 17 stabbings – a 31 percent increase from the same time last year.