A Portland smoke shop clerk fended off an armed robber earlier this year by grabbing a samurai sword and chasing him out the door, according to court documents. The man now facing charges, 29-year-old Jovani Maurice Flowers, allegedly told the clerk at the Sandy Smoke Shop on East Burnside Street, “Give me those, you don't want to get stabbed by me,” before fleeing when she reached for the blade.
According to court documents cited by KATU, Flowers entered the shop on a Monday afternoon, stole gummy candies, grabbed items from a display case, went behind the counter, and demanded kratom from the clerk while holding a knife near her. The clerk recognized him as the same man who had robbed the store in June, the documents state, and armed herself with a samurai sword. Flowers ran out of the store as soon as he saw her pick it up, and told her she should call police as he left.
A Kratom Habit Behind the Confrontation
Flowers told police he is addicted to kratom and was going through withdrawal at the time, saying the robbery “was not personal” and stemmed from his addiction, per the same court documents. He also allegedly told officers, “I f--ked up,” and admitted to committing the robbery. The Sandy Smoke Shop sits at 8021 E. Burnside Street near NE 82nd Avenue, in a stretch of East Portland's commercial corridor lined with retail shops and major transit routes, according to SmokeShops.com.
Kratom, a plant-based supplement derived from a Southeast Asian tree, is legal for adults 21 and older to purchase in Oregon under the Oregon Kratom Consumer Protection Act, also known as House Bill 4010, which took effect in July 2023 and requires processors to register with the state Department of Revenue and undergo third-party purity testing, according to the Oregon Department of Revenue. But federal regulators have raised alarms about the substance's risks even where it remains legal to sell. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned in guidance updated in December 2025 that kratom and its active alkaloids act on the body's mu-opioid receptors, which can lead to physical dependence, substance use disorder, and severe withdrawal symptoms — a warning that lines up with what Flowers allegedly told investigators about his own condition.
Nationwide Use, and a More Potent Risk
Kratom use has grown substantially in recent years. Federal survey data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found that roughly 1.9 million Americans aged 12 and older used kratom in 2022, with the highest rates among young adults 18 to 25, according to Healthline. Regulators have also flagged a more potent concern: the FDA launched enforcement actions in 2024 against retail products containing concentrated 7-hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH, an alkaloid that acts as a mu-opioid receptor agonist with far greater potency than natural kratom leaf, the outlet reports.
Following the confrontation at the smoke shop, officers detained Flowers at 1127 SE 80th Ave. after a short foot pursuit, per court documents. He was wearing the same clothes shown in surveillance images provided to police, and officers found him still carrying the stolen candy. Flowers was booked into Multnomah County custody on July 11, 2026, according to county jail booking records, and remains in custody.
A Second Robbery Case in Gresham
The Sandy Smoke Shop incident is not the only case Flowers is facing. He also faces an open robbery case tied to an incident at the Puff Puff Shop on Northeast 181st Avenue in Gresham, where court documents allege he held a knife near a clerk before fleeing. In the most recent case, Flowers faces charges of robbery and unlawful use of a weapon; he also faces a separate robbery charge stemming from the Gresham incident.
Flowers has a prior record involving violent crime. He was convicted in 2015 of attempted robbery and attempted assault and was sentenced to 50 months in prison at that time, court records show. He is due back in court in Multnomah County on August 12, 2026.
What Oregon Law Says About the Charges
Oregon's sentencing structure leaves little room for leniency in robbery cases involving weapons. Under Measure 11, First-Degree Robbery carries a mandatory minimum of 90 months in prison, while Second-Degree Robbery carries a mandatory minimum of 70 months, according to Rose City Law. Separately, Unlawful Use of a Weapon under Oregon Revised Statutes 166.220 — carrying or possessing a dangerous weapon with intent to use it unlawfully against another person — is a Class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison, per the Gilroy Napoli Short Law Group.
The clerk's decision to grab a samurai sword during the confrontation falls within Oregon's self-defense statutes. Under Oregon Revised Statutes 161.209 and 161.219, individuals are justified in using physical force to defend themselves or their property against what they reasonably believe to be the imminent use of unlawful physical force or a felony property crime, according to U.S. LawShield.
The case arrives amid broader scrutiny of retail kratom sales nationwide, including recent reporting on hemp and kratom raids at strip malls and lawsuits over deceptive marketing of kratom products in other cities. Locally, commercial property crimes such as shoplifting and burglary have stayed steady across recent seasons even as Portland's overall property crime fell 12 percent year-over-year in 2024, according to an analysis of Portland Police Bureau data by Northwest Enforcement.
