Portland police say they have arrested a man on bias-crime charges after he allegedly attacked another man and his 5-year-old daughter on the Eastbank Esplanade on Saturday.
A 36-year-old man from California, his wife, and daughter were riding bikes together when police say a man approached them and “made comments about his perception that they were of Japanese descent,” reads a police press release.
The man punched the father in the head and punched the girl in the helmet several times, according to police. Witnesses intervened and the suspect began walking away. The two were injured in the attack, but they didn’t require immediate medical attention, police say.
Police found Dylan Kesterson, 34, nearby and arrested him on charges of first-degree bias crime, which is a felony, and two misdemeanor counts of second-degree bias crime.