PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The 34-year-old man accused of a bias crime on the Eastbank Esplanade is now facing a dozen more charges stemming from a separate bias crime incident that happened in mid-April, court documents show.
The documents state Dylan Kesterson, who is accused of yelling at an Asian family visiting Portland over their race and then hitting the father and daughter several times on July 2, allegedly targeted multiple other people less than three months prior.
According to the indictment filed Tuesday in Multnomah County Circuit Court, Kesterson harassed and chased others, yelled slurs and assaulted a person because of his perception of their “race, color, and national origin” on April 17. Prosecutors said he threatened Tyra Blackmon, Mary Espiritu and Irina Back because of their identities.
The new charges add to a growing list — ranging from several counts of bias crimes to assault, harassment, reckless endangerment, menacing and criminal mischief.
In total, Kesterson now faces:
- Five counts of a first-degree bias crime
- Three counts of a second-degree bias crime
- Two counts of fourth-degree assault
- Second-degree attempted assault
- Third-degree attempted assault
- Menacing
- Reckless Endangerment
- Four counts of harassment
- Second-degree criminal mischief
History of the July 2 case
Around 3:45 p.m. on July 2, police said a 34-year-old man attacked a California father and daughter who were riding bikes on the Eastbank Esplanade. The suspect, identified as Kesterson, allegedly commented that the Californians were of Japanese descent and then began hitting the 36-year-old father in the head before repeatedly punching the 5-year-old girl in her bike helmet.
Kesterson was arrested near the scene and booked on first- and second-degree bias crimes. However, he was released from jail just hours after the attack because of a new law that went into effect one day prior, officials said.
Because he did not have any prior convictions, Senate Bill 48 dictated that he couldn’t be held in custody before the trial.
The following Wednesday on July 6, there was a hearing requested by the district attorney’s office to bring him back into custody. The DA’s office argued that new charges of assault and an additional bias crime would have met the criteria to hold Kesterson in pre-trial custody.
He didn’t show up to that hearing, officials said, and was arrested near Southwest 3rd Avenue and Jefferson later, gaining more charges that day.
He now faces 19 counts.