Portland police officers arrested Dylan J. Kesterson at Southwest 4th Avenue and Jefferson Street shortly after 3 a.m. Wednesday, Portland police said in a news release. He was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center. The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office filed seven charges against Kesterson on Tuesday. The charges include two counts each of first-degree bias crime, second-degree bias crime, harassment, fourth-degree assault, second-degree attempted assault and third-degree attempted assault. Kesterson, 34, was initially arrested on Saturday shortly after he allegedly attacked the father and daughter on the Eastbank Esplanade. Booking records show he was released the same day under supervision. Kesterson has no prior criminal record in Oregon. Prosecutor Mike Schmidt asked that he be held without bail. According to court records, the California father was riding his bicycle with his wife and daughter when Kesterson allegedly approached, made comments about their Japanese ancestry and then punched the father “several times in the back left side of the head of”. Court records also say Kesterson allegedly “jumped forward and punched” the man’s daughter in the top of her head once. According to a press release from the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office, the father sought medical treatment at a hospital afterward, but his daughter did not appear to have any injuries. The father told police Sunday, according to court records, that he suffered a post-traumatic headache and mild concussion from the incident. The DA’s office has developed and published a bias crime data dashboard to raise awareness of bias or hate crimes. Reports of anti-Asian bias rose by the highest rate in calls to Oregon’s bias hotline last year, according to an annual report by the state’s Commission on Criminal Justice. — Zaeem Shaikh? [email protected]; 503-221-8111; @zaeemshake
