Police say the victim’s mother learned of the attack after a friend pointed her to news reports.

PORTLAND, Ore. — A 33-year-old man survived after staggering into a North Portland Denny’s with his throat slashed April 19, prompting a witness and restaurant employees to render aid before police arrested a suspect nearby.

The attack left Christopher Thomas with a wound so deep that his trachea was exposed, according to court records described in public reports. Prosecutors charged Christopher James Parkins, 39, with attempted murder, assault counts and unlawful use of a weapon. Parkins has pleaded not guilty. The case drew wide attention because Thomas reached help inside a public restaurant while bleeding badly, and because his mother later said she learned what had happened by watching news coverage.

The first moments after the attack unfolded near the Denny’s at 11950 N. Center Ave., in the Jantzen Beach area of Portland. A witness told police he heard yelling and saw a commotion outside the restaurant. Thomas stumbled backward, while another man fell as if he had been pushed, the witness said in accounts tied to the case. Thomas then moved toward the restaurant with a severe wound to his neck. The witness helped him inside, where Denny’s workers stepped in until emergency crews arrived. Deborah Thomas, the victim’s mother, later thanked those who assisted her son. “They saved his life,” she said in an interview with KOIN.

Police identified Parkins as the suspect after officers found him nearby with a fixed-blade knife, according to reports citing court documents. The blade was described as 3 to 4 inches long and partly concealed by his sleeve. Officers said Parkins appeared tense when they encountered him. Investigators have not described Thomas and Parkins as people who knew each other before the incident. Reports said Thomas had been unhoused at the time, and his mother said she did not know what led to the encounter. The immediate cause of the confrontation remains unclear in the public record.

Thomas was taken for medical care and underwent surgery. Reports said he was still recovering after the attack. The injury was described in court records as a deep slash to the throat. The speed of the response inside the restaurant became a central part of the story, with Deborah Thomas saying any further delay could have killed her son. “If it would have been any longer, he would have bled to death,” she said. The Denny’s employees who helped him were not publicly identified in the accounts reviewed.

After his arrest, Parkins allegedly told officers he had been awake for several days, frequently smoked methamphetamine and had drunk whiskey the night before, according to reports citing court documents. He also allegedly said he had recently lost housing and was staying on the streets. When asked what caused the altercation, Parkins reportedly said, “Everything feels like it’s not even real.” He allegedly said he did not remember cutting anyone and remembered running after hearing police sirens. Those statements are allegations in the court record, not findings by a jury.

The criminal case moved quickly after the arrest. Parkins was arraigned on charges that included attempted murder, first-degree assault and unlawful use of a weapon. People reported that he also faced two counts of second-degree assault. KATU reported that court records listed a parole violation and prior convictions, including assaulting a public safety officer in 2025 and methamphetamine delivery in 2017. Parkins remained in custody without bail or bond in the Multnomah County jail system after the charges were filed. A preventive detention hearing was scheduled for May 4.

For Thomas’ family, the public reporting came before a full private understanding of the attack. Deborah Thomas said a friend alerted her, and she then watched a news clip about the man who had entered the restaurant with his throat slashed. “I freaked out,” she said. She described her son as being unhoused and said she had no clear answer about why he was attacked. Her comments shifted the story from a police account of a violent episode to a family’s account of shock, fear and gratitude toward strangers who intervened.

The restaurant setting also shaped the public response. Denny’s was not described as the place where the injury began, but it became the place where Thomas found help. Reports said the attack happened in a nearby street or parking area and that Thomas reached the restaurant while bleeding. The witness who helped him inside and the workers who aided him filled the gap between the injury and the arrival of medical care. Their names were not released in the reports, but their actions became the clearest known reason Thomas survived long enough to reach surgery.

As of the latest public reports reviewed, Thomas was recovering from surgery and Parkins remained a defendant in a pending criminal case. The next milestone listed in those reports was the May 4 detention hearing in Multnomah County. No public account reviewed described a final ruling in the case.

Author note: Last updated May 22, 2026.