A portion of a 78-year-old man’s skull was exposed after a suspect allegedly chewed off the elderly victim’s ear and part of his face during a fight early Tuesday morning on a light-rail train platform in the area of Portland, Oregon.
Local media reported authorities identified the suspect as 25-year-old Koryn Kraemer, who initially called himself “El Baker” as police booked him in Multnomah County Jail on the charge of second-degree assault. Kraemer had recently moved to the Portland area from Georgia, authorities said.
The alleged attacker “had chewed off the victim’s ear and part of his face,” police said. “The injury was so severe that responders could see the victim’s skull.”
The attack happened on a MAX platform at the Cleveland Station stop in Gresham, Oregon, shortly after 2 a.m. Tuesday, authorities said.
Police reportedly received a call from witnesses who said they saw a large amount of blood on the ground. When officers arrived, they found Kraemer allegedly mounted on the victim and pulled the suspect off of the man.
Police said they investigated if the suspect had used drugs before the assault. Sources told local media that Kraemer had allegedly admitted to consuming alcohol, fentanyl, and marijuana before attacking the man.
The attack has only increased safety concerns for train riders.
Jayden Adach, a local train passenger, told local media that security measures could improve “to make sure things like that don’t happen.”
“They should have patrol at least once an hour,” Adach said. “It’s very rare to see that.”
Another rider, Richard Landers, said the trains need a “few” more transit police to patrol the cars and tell “people to behave.”
“That’s all they have to do is behave,” Landers said.
The incident comes less than a week after a 32-year-old homeless woman allegedly shoved a 3-year-old child from behind on the platform face-first onto the metal rail and rocks before witnesses quickly rescued the toddler from the train tracks.
Local officials asked what they could do to make the platforms safer after the incident.
“It’s upsetting to learn that someone was hurt by another person at the Cleveland Ave MAX Station early this morning,” a representative for TriMet, the state’s mass transit authority, said in a statement. “What happens in the community will, at times, happen on or near the transit system.”
The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office called both incidents “disturbing” and have discussed how they can ensure local public transit users feel safe.
“The two recent, isolated crimes are extremely disturbing,” a spokesperson said, adding authorities would add two full-time deputies and increase hours of operations to perform public safety missions at TriMet Transit Centers and platforms where the volume of calls for service are higher in order to deter and disrupt criminal activity.