The man accused of burning Portland Councilor Candace Avalos’ home cycled through Oregon’s mental health and criminal systems for years without the right treatment.
PORTLAND, Ore. — A homeless man accused of setting a fire that damaged Portland City Councilor Candace Avalos’ home and destroyed her car has a years-long history of criminal charges and court-ordered mental health treatment — further highlighting gaps in Oregon’s mental health care systems.
Portland police arrested Vashon Locust this week, charging him with reckless burning, criminal mischief, and criminal trespass.
Investigators connected Locust to the case after reviewing a video of a man walking away from the scene. Police say Locust lit a small fire to stay warm, but it quickly spread, damaging the property of Avalos and two others.
While Avalos and others initially expressed concern that the fire could be an act of political violence, investigators’ early findings appear to show that it’s another example of a statewide system that fails to help people with severe mental illness, as KGW has exposed in its ongoing “Uncommitted” series.
Court documents show that multiple mental health evaluators have diagnosed Locust with “Unspecified Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorder.”
Locust has a long criminal history, consisting mostly of misdemeanors and some felony drug charges. Judges have repeatedly ruled that Locust needs mental health treatment before his criminal cases can proceed.
In December of 2023, Multnomah County Judge Nan Waller ordered Locust to the Oregon State Hospital — the state’s primary secure psychiatric care facility — for treatment.
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Waller previously spoke with KGW about how Oregon fails to provide the right level of care for many people.
“I think that it’s a combination of not having the whole continuum of placements and treatment available,” Waller said in a previous interview. “We know that for some people, at least to get them stabilized, they need to be in a secure setting.”
Court records show that Waller, upon review of multiple mental health evaluations and statements from lawyers, found that an OSH level of care was necessary due to public safety concerns and Locust’s symptoms.
About 10 weeks later, Locust was released from OSH and ordered into community-based restoration and treatment in Portland at the NW Regional Re-Entry Center.
However, court documents show that shortly after arriving at the facility, he left. Locust subsequently missed court dates and treatment requirements, prompting Waller to issue a warrant for his arrest.
Effectively, the step-down plan from the state hospital didn’t work.
“I absolutely know that we don’t have, in the communities, the level of the right kinds of placements across the whole continuum from low-barrier to secure, it doesn’t exist,” Waller previously said in an interview about Oregon’s mental health system with KGW.
In August of 2024, police arrested Locust. At that time, Locust was deemed, again, to still be too mentally ill for community-based treatment.
“Based off the assessment of Forensic Diversion, the defendant is not a good candidate for Community Restoration at this time,” Waller wrote.
Locust had already been to the Oregon State Hospital under the current relevant criminal charges, so he could not be returned there for additional services.
Without any other options for appropriate treatment, Locust’s defense attorney moved to dismiss the cases; prosecutors didn’t object, and Waller dismissed the charges.
About 14 months later, Locust allegedly told Portland police investigators that he lit a small fire to keep warm while trying to sleep in a shed near Avalos’ home.
According to court documents, Locust said it was cold, his clothes were wet, and he tried to stomp out the fire when it spread but he couldn’t control it — so he left the scene.