PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt announced a 51-year-old man was sentenced to 18 months in prison for committing a bias crime against a Black TriMet Transit worker.
Tomas DeLong pleaded guilty to one count of bias crime in the first degree, one count of menacing, and one count of disorderly conduct in the second degree for his role in a confrontation with a Black TriMet transit supervisor in May of 2020.
While working at the Barbur Transit Station in Southwest Portland in May of 2020, the supervisor heard another employee ask for help. The other employee, a TriMet bus operator, reported a disturbance involving a person later identified as DeLong, according to court documents.
As the bus operator left the station to flee DeLong, DeLong hit the siding of the bus and then ran toward the supervisor. According to police reports, DeLong used racial hate speech and attempted to punch the supervisor before chasing him.
The victim pleaded for DeLong not to cause harm and was able to escape to safety into a TriMet vehicle until police arrived.
In addition to the prison sentence, DeLong will be on five years of formal probation and three years of post-prison supervision. Part of the probation conditions include having no presence on any TriMet property, having no contact with the victim, and undergoing a drug, alcohol, and mental health evaluation.
