A man has been arrested following a stabbing late Wednesday night at the Helping Hands Reentry Center in Seaside.
Mark Warren, 41, faces charges of assault in the second degree, unlawful use of a weapon and felon in possession of a restricted weapon.
According to Helping Hands, a nonprofit that works with homeless populations in Clatsop County and several other Oregon counties, Warren was seeking out services from the Seaside facility’s emergency shelter when he allegedly stabbed center employee Karl Hayes during a confrontation with staff members.
According to police, Warren then fled the scene. Officers found him hiding in bushes nearby and arrested him.
Hayes was taken to Providence Seaside and then transported to Portland with injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening.
Alan Evans, founder and president of Helping Hands, told KMUN Thursday afternoon that Hayes was out of surgery in Portland and seemed to be in good spirits.
“We’re grateful that our guy is OK at this time,” Evans said. “We’re heartbroken that this happened in one of our facilities.”
“We’re going to continue to care for people to the best of our abilities,” he added. “We’re going to take a look at this situation and see if there is anything that we could do differently and go from there.”
Evans said Warren was known in the community and by police and local businesses. Warren had accessed services offered by Helping Hands multiple times over the years.
Helping Hands operates 11 facilities across five Oregon counties. Wednesday’s stabbing was only the second such incident in the organization’s history, according to Evans.
That other stabbing had also occurred in Clatsop County — at a facility in Astoria. In 2024, Stephen Foxon, a resident at the time, allegedly fatally stabbed another man. His case is still pending.
He previously faced charges of attempted murder in another stabbing case, at the Astoria Rescue Mission in 2018.
“It’s not very often that it happens,” Evans said.
But, he added, Helping Hands centers serve people who are dealing with a host of issues including homelessness, mental health concerns, trauma and addiction. He said Warren was a troubled person who “overstepped the line last night.”
For Evans, it is more evidence of the need for strong mental health supports and treatment in communities.
“We’ve been doing this a long time,” he said. “People need far more help than just shelter and food and a small program, especially with mental health issues. And there’s just not those services out there right now.”