Strong-arm punks rob MAX-riding deaf man of iPod

Find out about the vile criminal act that has cops on the lookout for two young thugs, in the Gateway area …

Police say they suspect these two MAX Light Rail riders roughed up an elderly man, and stole the iPad he uses to communicate.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton
For the two teenage-looking hoodlums, roughing up a 62-year-old hearing-impaired fellow MAX Light Rail rider – and stealing the iPad he uses to communicate – must have seemed like great sport during the early morning hours of September 13.

At 5:25 a.m., Portland Police Bureau (PPB) East Precinct District Officers were dispatched to the 122^nd Avenue MAX Transit Station to investigate this cruel criminal act.

This suspect spots the victim and decides to take action.

According to witnesses, and to the victim who communicated as best he could without his device, the two louts boarded the eastbound MAX train at the Gateway Transit Station.

“They began being aggressive towards the victim,” said PPB Public Information Officer Sgt. Pete Simpson.

“Then, a couple of blocks away as the train stopped at the 102nd Transit Station, one of the suspects grabbed the victim’s iPad and ran off the train. He continued running South on SE 102nd Avenue.”

He’s on his way, police say, to steal an iPad from a deaf man.

The other suspect, Simpson added, was astride a BMX-style bicycle inside the train, also bolted from the train as the same stop, and rode off southbound.

The pair must have ducked into a building, or one of the many apartments in the area, because officers canvassing the neighborhood didn’t spot either of the two thugs in their search.

“The suspect who grabbed the iPad is described as an African American male, late-teens or early-20s, 5’9″ tall, thin build, short black hair, dark-skinned, red T-shirt, light blue jean shorts, and black high-top tennis shoes,” described Simpson.

Please – if you’ve seen either of these two guys – turn them in, today.

“The suspect on the BMX bicycle is described as a white male in his late-teens or early-20s, 5’10”, medium build, with a Chinese symbol tattoo on the left side of his neck, and wearing a white T-shirt, baseball cap, black shorts.”

Do you have information about this really low-down crime? If so, email crimetips@portlandoregon.gov and reference Case #13-77163.

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