PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland police are searching for a suspect in an alleged racist attack on a southwest Portland business owner and his family.
On Aug. 21 at 2:47 p.m., an officer responded to reports of an assault near Southwest Second Avenue. Tommy Ly told officers that an altercation with a "biker" took place, according to the Portland Police Bureau.
Ly is used to protecting his business, Stumptown Otaku in downtown Portland, known for selling artwork, collectable plush and action figures.
“All of our employees carry a canister of pepper spray just in case," Ly said.
He says that often, people try to steal from the pop culture shop, “Campers here, we got trash, we got feces all around the street. It’s driving away customers, it's driving away tourists and it puts me and my staff at risk."
But the Navy veteran said, Monday afternoon was something different and his family was the target of a hate crime.
“We were just crossing the cross walk when this bike came barreling down and almost hit my mom.”
It happened at the intersection of 2nd Avenue and Pine, right across from Stumptown Otaku. Where he says, he told the man to watch out and that's when the situation escalated.
“He turned back around and just started yelling racial slurs at us… stuff I don’t really want to repeat anymore," Ly said.
He said the man went a step further, throwing a burning cigarette at his mom and a punch at him. That's when Ly tried to get his elderly parents to safety, "I told my parents come on, come on, let’s go, let’s just go.”
Ly says, he warned the man that he was armed with mace, but that didn't stop the biker from coming back.
“He just biked back around, got close to my mom and spit in her face and at that point I just lost it, and just grabbed my mace and emptied the whole can straight into his face and then he just biked off.”
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He described him as a white man that's about 30-years-old with a nose piercing.
"Asian hate crimes are still a very real thing despite what some people think," said Ly.
PPB told KGW, the Major Crimes Unit reviewed the report and the case has been assigned to a detective. They also said that this case will be investigated as a bias crime.
Anyone with information about the assault or knowledge of the suspect's identity is asked to email, crimetips@police.portlandoregon.gov and use the subject line, ATTN: Major Crimes Units. The reference case number is 23-219813.