Photo: Ben Crump's Twitter
A Black food truck owner was bloodied and battered after a racist attack by a white man earlier this month in Portland, Oregon. Darell Preston, the 36-year-old victim in the June 15 attack, has hired an attorney to investigate the assault and police's response to the incident, according to OregonLive on Monday (June 26).
Preston was reportedly attacked "without warning" on June 15 around 7 p.m. outside his business, LoRell's Chicken Shack, on Southeast Foster Road and 52nd Avenue. Footage shared by Preston's attorney, Alicia LeDuc Montgomery, shows a bald white man kicking and punching Preston.
He was allegedly on the phone with his wife, Marshnique Preston, before the attack started, where racial slurs could be heard, the lawyer added. Passing drivers honked and yelled at the attacker to stop in the video, and the white man later walks away from the scene.
Preston suffered severe facial injuries and was taken to the hospital by his wife. Pictures shared with OregonLive show the Black man with a swollen black eye, nasty bruises, and blood dripping down his face.
“We are deeply disturbed by this assault, which has left the community shaken and outraged,” LeDuc Montgomery said in a Monday statement. “We call upon law enforcement to thoroughly investigate this despicable act of violence.”
She also sent a letter to the City of Portland and the Multnomah County District Attorney informing them that she was investigating the attack along with “timeliness and sufficiency of the government’s response."
The Portland Police Bureau claims officers were dispatched to the scene on reports that a pedestrian was struck by a car. Cops learned from firefighters that it was actually an assault, and both Preston and the attacker left the scene. Once they found the food truck owner at his business, Preston reportedly gave a general description of the suspect but refused to talk about the attack.
“We initially did not know the full scope of what happened due to limited information provided at the scene,” PPB spokesperson Sgt. Kevin Allen told OregonLive, adding that an officer gave Preston a business card. “As soon as detectives were able to reach the victim, they launched the investigation into a possible bias crime.”
LeDuc Montgomery said it was difficult for her client to speak with officers because his face "had been so badly beaten in." Police searched the area for the suspect, but they couldn't find anyone. No ambulance was called for Preston, as well, the attorney alleges in her statement.
Allen confirmed to reporters the Police Bureau's Major Crimes Unit started investigating the attack as a bias crime after speaking with Preston's family on June 19. An arrest hasn't been made as of Wednesday, June 28.
A GoFundMe was launched to help Preston and his family while the food truck was temporarily shut down. The business is expected to reopen this week, OregonLive said.
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