The lawyer and Alpenrose Dairy heir who Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler blasted with pepper spray after the man aggressively confronted him expressed remorse Wednesday and made clear he wanted to patch things up with the mayor as well as the partners at his downtown firm.
“I am remorseful for my decision to confront Mayor Wheeler on Sunday, Jan. 24, and I am sorry he felt the need to use pepper spray,” Cary Cadonau, 48, said in the statement, released nearly 72 hours after he accosted Wheeler and former Mayor Sam Adams outside a Southwest Portland pub and filmed them with his phone.
“I cherish Portland and our local community. I recognize that Mayor Wheeler has a very difficult job. I have contacted Mayor Wheeler’s office to request an opportunity to amicably resolve this matter.
“I would also like to apologize to my law partners for my conduct.”
Cadonau’s remarks are an abrupt departure from his position only days earlier when he told police he wanted to hold the mayor “accountable” and hinted he’d publicly release the video he shot.
Mara Woloshin, a representative for Cadonau, said Wednesday night that her client now had little desire to publish the footage.
“I don’t think he’ll ever release the video now,” Woloshin told The Oregonian/OregonLive. “It’s just not in his interest to engage in this ongoing tussle.”
Jim Middaugh, a spokesman for Wheeler, said the mayor appreciated Cadonau’s sentiment and would have more to say soon.
The dustup began when Cadonau, who was unmasked and filming with his phone, confronted the mayor and Adams as they left the McMenamins Hillsdale Brewery & Public House about 8 p.m., a police report of the incident said.
Cadonau accused Wheeler of dining without and a mask and said he’d photographed him while he ate, the mayor told police.
“Apparently you don’t know the rules,” Wheeler told Cadonau, according to an audio recording of the encounter captured by Adams.
The mayor said he and Adams had been in the tented area of the pub, which does not require face coverings under current coronavirus restrictions, the police report said.
Cadonau then followed Wheeler closely as he walked to his car and refused to back off when he asked, the mayor told police.
That’s when the mayor unleashed a burst of the burning agent into the man’s eyes.
“You just pepper-sprayed me for no reason at all,” Cadonau said, according to the audio recording.
Adams interjected: “Actually, I was here and you were like a foot from him. He asked you to back away and you didn’t.”
Afterward, Wheeler said, he provided the man with a bottle of water to rinse his face.
Police said they identified Cadonau after he returned to the pub Monday and asked a manager for security video footage and a copy of Wheeler’s restaurant tab.
The manager declined to provide those but Cadonau gave him his full name and contact information, according to the police report.
A police officer interviewed Cadonau on Monday afternoon. He told the officer he was an attorney and was hesitant to discuss the matter involving the mayor, the report said.
Cary Cadonau, 48, is a partner at Brownstein Rask LLP, a prominent midsize law firm in downtown Portland. His practice includes real estate law, personal injury and criminal defense, according to the firm’s website. (Brownstein Rask LLP)
Cadonau told the officer he believed Wheeler should be held “accountable” for the episode, but when the officer asked why, Cadonau declined to say.
“I asked him multiple times if he wanted to talk about the incident, share his video footage or provide his side of the story, but he respectfully declined to say anymore,” wrote Officer Matt Miller in the report.
The encounter marks the latest incident where individuals targeted the mayor in public.
Groups of left-wing activists raucously accosted Wheeler twice in the last two months while he was dining at a Northwest Portland cafe.
During the most recent altercation, one of the activists swatted at Wheeler and made physical contact with him, according to the mayor’s office.
Cadonau is a partner at Brownstein Rask, a prominent midsize law firm in downtown Portland. His practice includes real estate law, personal injury and criminal defense, according to the firm’s website.
“Cary enjoys working to achieve creative resolutions to disputes,” his company bio reads.
Cadonau is also a great-great-grandchild of the founder of Alpenrose Dairy in Southwest Portland.
An intrafamily dispute over the dairy led to its sale to another company in 2019. Terms of how much Cadonau family members received from the sale were not disclosed.
— Shane Dixon Kavanaugh; 503-294-7632
Email at skavanaugh@oregonian.com
Follow on Twitter @shanedkavanaugh
Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.