Elderly man's face bitten on Portland's Blue Line just days after 3-year-old pushed onto the tracks

An elderly man lost part of his face and a toddler came close to losing a great deal more in two separate attacks that occurred within a week of one another on the Metropolitan Area Express Blue Line in Portland, Oregon.

New year, same violent city

Korn Kraemer, 25, recently moved to Portland from the state of Georgia. According to police, Kraemer attacked a 78-year-old man on a MAX platform early Tuesday morning.

KPTV reported that the officers dispatched to Cleveland Station in the Portland suburb of Gresham around 2:17 a.m. found the suspect still lying atop and attacking the elderly man.

There was so much blood at the scene, police initially suspected the attack had been a stabbing.

But this was no mere stabbing. Police said that the suspect "had chewed off the victim's ear and part of his face. The injury was so severe that responders could see the victim's skull."

The victim was reportedly taken to a hospital, his condition unknown.

When officers detained the suspect, he identified himself as "El Baker." Only later, after booking him into the Multnomah County Jail on an assault charge, were they able to fingerprint and thereby identify the suspect as Kraemer.

TriMet, the transit provider behind the Blue Line, issued a statement, intimating that it is inevitable that the violence plaguing Portland would spill onto the transit system.

"What happens in the community will at times happen on or near the transit system. As we work to provide safety system-wide, across our 533 square-mile service district stretching across three counties, we also look to our partners for help addressing larger safety and community issues," said the statement. "Transit Police, which is led by Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, work closely with other local law enforcement to investigate criminal activity that spills over onto the transit system and may have more."

KOIN reported that hours after the apparent cannibalistic attack, there was a report of more violence on the Blue Line; however, those involved managed to escape.

One Blue Line rider told KOIN, "I feel like they could do a little bit better with their security to make sure things like that don’t happen."

Richard Landers, another Blue Line rider, indicated that the commuting public could benefit from a "few more transit police security like that, patrolling around and telling people to behave."

Child sacrifice

It may have taken more than a simple request to practice good behavior to prevent 32-year-old Brianna Lace Workman from allegedly pushing a 3-year-old girl onto the tracks on Dec. 28.

According to the Multnomah County district attorney’s office, a mother and her child were waiting for a train at the Gateway Transit Center MAX platform in northeast Portland.

Workman allegedly shoved the child onto the metal rail below.

TriMet video surveillance captured the moment the suspect pushed the little girl, dressed in a pink coat, over the edge:

The little girl went head-first into the metal rail and rocks.

While Workman reseated herself after the attack, bystanders leaped into action. The bystanders rescued the little girl from the tracks before the next train pulled into the station.

According to the district attorney's office, the child survived, suffering a severe headache and a red mark on her forehead.

Workman was charged with attempted assault in the first degree, assault in the third degree, interfering with public transportation, disorderly conduct in the second degree, and recklessly endangering another person.

Michael Reed, a MAX rider, told KPTV, "That was really cruel. You know, like people just don't care anymore, they don't have respect."

Another rider, Blaine Danley, said, "There’s no excuse for that. Like I don’t understand why someone would do something like that — they belong in jail."

While such suspects may belong in jail, the likelihood of them ending up there is questionable.

Symptoms of a greater problem

TheBlaze previously reported how leftist Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt announced that hundreds of wife-beaters, sex offenders, burglars, drunk drivers, and berserkers of various intensity will not face justice in Oregon's most populous county. Schmidt, who made a name for himself by refusing to prosecute BLM rioters and other violent suspects, blamed the problem on a lack of public defenders.

Extra to a legal system unable or unwilling to put criminals in jail, Portland and the surrounding area are still reeling from the city's cuts to and vilification of police. The diminished effects of deterrence and responsiveness appear to have had a significant impact.

Portland's Democratic Mayor Ted Wheeler's office revealed this week that there were nearly four times more murders in 2022 than the city's 20-year-average, reported KOIN. Sgt. Kevin Allen said, "We've had another incredibly violent year in the city."

Extra to apparent cannibalistic attacks and unprovoked assaults on toddlers, the city saw a record 96 homicides and 1,300 shootings last year. Allen indicated that gangs remain a problem, but 34% of murders involved homeless individuals.

The Democrat-run city scores a three on Neighborhood Scout's crime index, where 100 is safest. The chances of becoming a victim of a violent crime are one in 187. In the Democrat-controlled state of Oregon, the odds are one in 342.