A man accused of punching a Japanese man and his 5-year-old daughter in Portland, Oregon, on July 2 is facing new charges over a previous alleged attack against a Filipino woman in April.
Tyra Blackmon, who lives in Bay City, Michigan, was vacationing in Portland when 34-year-old Dylan J. Kesterson allegedly attacked her so violently that he ripped strands of her hair out.
Blackmon shared her story with FOX 12 after hearing the news of Kesterson’s latest attack. She told the outlet that she was “angry” that Kesterson was released after his first arrest.
“He sees me and starts walking up to me really fast. He said, ‘Are you Filipino?’ and I just froze immediately,” Blackmon told FOX 12 of the April 17 incident. “He grabbed the back of my head extremely hard and gripped as hard as he could and threw me on the back of our car. I fell to the ground and he kept yanking and yanking.”
Blackmon said the attack occurred after she and her friends tried to help a teenage boy being chased by Kesterson, who had been yelling racial slurs and threatening others in the area of SW 10th Ave. and Yamhill Street. Blackmon and her friends, who were having coffee and checking out stores at the time, also allegedly witnessed Kesterson knock another Asian woman’s coffee out of her hand.
Bystanders managed to fend off Kesterson, but he left before authorities arrived. Blackmon said police told her that they were “doing everything” they could to find Kesterson, but she did not hear back until “a month or two” later.
Once the authorities eventually reached out to her, they informed her that there was still no sign of Kesterson. She believes the attack on the Japanese family could have been prevented had Kesterson been arrested for her case months ago.
Kesterson, who is currently being held at Multnomah County Jail, is now facing a total of 19 charges for both the April 17 and July 2 attacks. These include multiple counts of assault, harassment and bias crime.
Kesterson is set to be arraigned today in the Multnomah County Circuit Court. He previously pleaded not guilty to charges from the July 2 case.
Featured Image via KGW News
