PORTLAND, Ore. — The suspect in an alleged racist attack on a Southeast Portland food truck owner has been formally brought up on assault and hate crime charges, according to a statement released Monday by the Multnomah County District Attorney's office.
Daniel Thomas Warren, 40, was arrested early this month in connection with the attack on Darell Preston, the owner of LoRell's Chicken Shack near Southeast 52nd and Foster. According to an attorney for Preston, he was out talking on the phone near his food truck when he was attacked from behind by a white man who shouted racial slurs during the beating.
Cell phone video documenting the end of the attack, provided by the attorney, shows Warren walking nonchalantly away after pulling Preston back to the ground and stomping on him.
Portland police said initially that Preston refused to speak to them about the assault, but officers obtained witness statements and video footage at the scene. Detectives got in contact with Preston on June 18, according to the agency — the day after a family member Preston's posted a fundraiser on GoFundMe on the food truck owner's behalf, describing the incident as a "racially motivated attack and potential hate crime." The fundraiser included photos of Preston's injuries.
On June 17, Portland police identified Warren as a suspect in the attack, circulating a mugshot and a still taken from surveillance footage just after the assault. Officers out on an unrelated call on Southeast Division Street spotted Warren on July 2, taking him into custody.
Although the Portland Police Bureau confirmed in earlier statements that the assault was being investigated as a potential bias crime, Oregon's version of a hate crime, Warren was initially booked on a single second-degree assault charge.
After reviewing evidence in the case provided by law enforcement, the DA's office said it presented the case to a Multnomah County grand jury. The jury returned a "true bill," approving an indictment of Warren on charges of both second-degree assault and first-degree bias crime.
The DA's office said that it has filed a motion asking that Warren be denied any form of release pending trial due to the violent nature of the crimes and the risk to public safety. Warren has an extensive criminal history in Oregon, and he's been charged a number of times with assault, coercion, harassment and strangulation, among a number of other crimes.
Last Wednesday, Preston added a note to the GoFundMe page, thanking people for their prayers, love and support.
"What happened to me, I wouldn't have dreamed of in my darkest nightmare," Preston said in part. "But what I've come to realize and truly believe, is that what doesn't kill you truly makes you stronger; if not stronger, well at least more determined. Because of this I am more determined to succeed than I have ever been before."
