Portland, Oregon. (coyne) — A man accused of assaulting two strangers on public transportation appeared in Multnomah County Court on Friday and pleaded not guilty to multiple charges.
Sincere William Alexander Hunter faces multiple charges, including fourth-degree assault and interfering with public transportation, court documents show.
Hunter, who had multiple arrest warrants at the time, was arrested on Dec. 10 by a Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office deputy and traffic police officer.
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On the day of his arrest, Hunter allegedly punched a man in the face at the Parkrose Transit Center TriMet Max platform.
The victim told officers at the scene that an unidentified man wearing a pacifier and a gray hoodie followed him off the TriMet bus, then confronted him and hit him in the face. His left eye was visibly swollen and he said he was unable to open and close it due to pain, which he rated as a seven or eight out of ten, court documents said.
Officers reviewed the surveillance video and the victim identified the person in the video as his attacker. Officers later located and arrested Hunter on Northeast Sandy Avenue after noting his direction of travel from surveillance footage.
According to the deputy, Hunter claimed he followed the victim out of the vehicle because of comments she made.
This all comes after a similar incident on Nov. 17, when a deputy/traffic officer responded to a report of a “cold hit” at the intersection of Northeast 82nd Avenue and Northeast Halsey Street, court documents say.
The victim told police he was standing on a TriMet MAX train when an unknown man punched him in the face for no apparent reason. The man’s lips were bleeding and his eyes were swollen.
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The officer reviewed surveillance video and noticed the victim had his back turned to the suspect before the attack. The man punched the suspect in the face before he fled the train and fell to his seat.
The officer took a screenshot of the surveillance video, created a flyer of the suspect and distributed it to other law enforcement officers. The deputy involved in the Dec. 10 incident later cited the flyer as helping him identify the suspect.
Hunter has pleaded not guilty to fourth-degree assault and two counts of interfering with public transportation for the Nov. 17 incident. Hunter also pleaded not guilty to fourth-degree assault, harassment and interfering with public transportation for the Dec. 10 incident.
Hunter’s bail was set at $5,000 in each case and he was ordered not to contact the victims or enter TriMet property without a valid fare. Another hearing is scheduled for January 9.
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