Lents MAX station slashing called a ‘hate crime’

Find out how this Florida transient’s crime spree in outer East Portland came to an end…

The first of many police officers arrive at the Lents TriMet MAX Light Rail Flavel Station when two teenagers are stabbed.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton

It was a busy late Saturday afternoon at the TriMet MAX Light Rail Flavel Station on Saturday, September 2: A commotion broke out – and two 17-year-old victims were stabbed and injured.

Portland Police Bureau (PPB) East Precinct officers pulled in just east of I-205, along SE Flavel Street, at 5:46 p.m. – and found the injured youth. Officers shut down and cordoned off the light rail station, while calling for Portland Fire & Rescue and ambulances to come treat and evaluate the victims.

This ambulance takes the more-seriously-injured teenager to a hospital.

One of the victims was taken to a local hospital by ambulance, the other declined medical transport, and was treated at the scene; officials said the injuries of both are not life-threatening.

Soon, more than a dozen officers, including a PPB K-9 Team, began searching for the suspect, who had fled his crime scene.

Officers and detectives begin interviewing witnesses on the MAX Light Rail platform.

Within six minutes of being dispatched, officers had come across a man matching the description of the suspect at SE 92nd Avenue and Flavel Street, and challenged him. The suspect began running, and officers took off on foot pursuit.

They caught up with him just east of I-205 on SE Mt. Scott Boulevard, near the entrance of the Portland Pentecostal Church, and detained him.


This is the knife police say was found near the suspect when they caught up with him. PPB Image

Investigators determined that the assault began on a MAX train and then the victims and the suspect had eft the train at the Flavel Street Station where the assault continued.

The man arrested was 26-year-old Adrian Austin Cummins, formerly of Daytona Beach, Florida.

The officers in this police cruiser are heading to the Checkers Market, where Cummins is accused of committing an armed robbery.

Shortly after collaring the Cummins, officers learned that he’d just robbed the Checkers Mart convenience store at knifepoint – on SE Flavel Street at 92nd Avenue – but confirmed that there were no injuries during the robbery.

These 2022 booking photos of 26-year-old Adrian Austin Cummins are courtesy of the Flagler County Jail in Florida.

The PPB’s Major Crimes Unit detectives interviewed Cummins at 12:17 a.m. on September 3, after which he was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center (MCDC).

At that time, the charges were Assault in the First Degree, Assault in the Second Degree, Bias Crime in the First Degree (to Counts), and Robbery in the First Degree.

Green Line TriMet MAX train service was halted while the investigation continued.

Cummins’ crime spree
It seems that after serving multiple sentences in Florida’s Flagler County Jail – records we obtained from that jail show that he was previously charged with fentanyl possession, vehicle theft in 2021, and parole violation in 2022 – Cummins then headed for Portland, where court papers list him as a transient and “houseless”.

Which court papers? During his most recent arraignment on September 4, it came out that Cummins had earlier been arrested for “menacing with a knife” here back in July. After his release, couple of weeks later, Cummins was busted with fentanyl.

Cummins appears in court at his arraignment, with his court-appointed attorney. Courtesy KGW-8 News

Even more important, back in April, Cummins had been arrested for fighting another man in downtown Portland. Court documents showed that during that brawl, Cummins dropped a handgun. At the time, he was charged with being a convicted felon possessing a handgun – one fitted with a suppressor.

Set free by a judge!
However, even more astonishing than Cummins’ criminal activities here is that a Multnomah County judge dismissed his charges on August 31 – a mere two days before he is accused of stabbing two youth on a MAX train, and committing armed robbery!

It’s likely that Cummins isn’t likely to be released by a kindly judge soon. He’s now charged 10 Felonies – including Attempted Murder in the Second Degree – and one Misdemeanor charge of Interfering with Public Transportation.

Currently Cummins is lodged in the MCDC and, is – for the time being – being held without bail.

© 2023 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™

 

Comments are closed.

© 2005-2024 David F. Ashton East PDX News™. All Rights Reserved.