Left: Jason Hay (GoFundMe). Right: Three people try to help Hay after he had a heart attack at the liquor store where he worked. The man with the red hood allegedly stole $800 from the store (KPTV).
Cops in Portland, Oregon, are searching for a man who stole from a liquor store as a clerk was having a heart attack and ran away without helping the victim.
According to the Portland Police Bureau, an employee at Bins & Barrels was having a medical emergency around 6:15 p.m. on Oct. 25. As this was going on, the suspect went behind the counter and stole cash from the employee and store office before fleeing.
"This does not appear to be connected to any larger string of crimes, more of a crime of opportunity," Mike Benner, public information officer, told Law&Crime.
The employee was identified by co-workers as 53-year-old Jason Hay. He was taken to the hospital, where he died about a week later.
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Hay had been working at the store for about a year.
"He made an effort to know every single person's name who walked through that door," a store employee said at a vigil on Monday, according to local Fox affiliate KPTV.
Bins & Barrels manager Michelle Maurer told local NBC affiliate KGW that the suspect stole some $800 while acting like a good Samaritan who was trying to help Hay.
"During this time, several good Samaritans came in and tried to help out. Unfortunately, one man came in and acted like he was trying to help, even took Jason's pulse, when it was obvious he was patting Jason down to find his wallet," Maurer said.
Surveillance video reportedly showed the man walk into the back office as others were frantically trying to save Hay's life.
"He discovered that our change safe was open, and grabbed the bank bags and shoved them down the front of his pants," Maurer told KGW.
Hay leaves behind a wife and a 15-year-old son and spent the majority of his life in Portland. A GoFundMe account is raising funds for his family as he was the sole provider.
"He was a light in this community and I hope everyone pays it forward like he would every day," his sister Jessica Jones said at the vigil per KPTV.
Jones said Hay probably knew the man that stole from him.
"That's the heartbreaking part is it was somebody that he knew. Somebody he trusted," she said.
Anyone with information on the suspect can contact crimetips@police.portlandoregon.gov and reference case number 25-259043.