Accused MAX killer investigated for another attack

PORTLAND, Ore. (Portland Tribune) — Police now are investigating Jeremy Christian, the man charged with killing two men and wounding another on a MAX train, for yet another stabbing, — this one near the downtown Voodoo Doughnut in January.

The news comes in addition to another assault that Christian, a known white supremacist, is believed to have committed on TriMet the day before the May 26 murder. He has been charged with second-degree assault and intimidation of a 43-year-old African American woman in the May 25 incident, and later that night threatened to stab a TriMet light rail operator and others.

Because of the pending investigation and charges, police and other officials are not providing details on the two additional incidents. A Portland police official on Friday did, however, confirm that the Voodoo Doughnut incident is apparently the same one discussed in media reports months ago.

On Friday, Jan. 27, police were called at 5:15 a.m. to a fight between men, who were believed to be homeless, outside the donut shop, according to accounts in The Oregonian and by KPTV. A 40-year-old man stabbed in the back declined to cooperate when police arrived, and the suspect had fled. The injury was considered non-life-threatening, and the victim’s name and ethnicity has not been released.

Christian was reportedly involved in two other incidents on TriMet on May 25, one of which appears to be connected to incident mentioned in the indictment. On a Blue Line Train near Gateway, a woman reportedly pepper-sprayed Christian at about 11:30p.m, according to Lane Jensen, who listened to TriMet scanner recordings. TriMet will not discuss the incident, but a TriMet source who declined to be named echoed an earlier account by KGW that a woman is believed to have pepper-sprayed Christian after he threw a Gatorade bottle at her.

Full coverage of the MAX attack

This is apparently the same incident referred to in the June 6 indictment of Christian. While the document charges Christian with the well-publicized murders of Ricky Best and Taliesin Namkai-Meche and the assault of Micah Fletcher on May 26, it also accuses Christian of second-degree assault as well as intimidation and menacing against Demetria Hester on May 25. Hester could not be reached for comment, but records and internet entries indicate she is a 43-year-old African-American woman.

A video of him ranting on May 25 apparently after being sprayed has been posted by Willamette Week. That rant, which included threatening to stab a TriMet MAX operator and others, also resulted in police being called, but he left before they could detain him, according to TriMet.

The Portland Tribune is a KOIN media partner