Posted on 06/13/2008 12:40:58 PM PDT by AuntB
When the teenagers pushed past Laurie Lee Chilcote to get off the MAX train at the Gresham Central station on Nov. 3, he told them they shouldn't be shoving an old man.
Fifteen-year-old Abel Chavez-Garcia responded by taunting the 71-year-old Chilcote and then bludgeoning him over the head with a baseball bat.
On Thursday, Chavez-Garcia was sentenced to 91/2 years in prison after telling Multnomah County Circuit Judge Eric Bergstrom that he felt bad about what happened that night.
"Nothing I can do about it anymore," said Chavez-Garcia, now 16. "I regret what I did."
Chilcote wasn't in court to see his attacker sentenced, but in a telephone interview from his Sandy home he said he was satisfied with the sentence and hoped the youth would come out of prison a better person.
He said his body is still sore from the attack and he feels emotionally drained. In a letter to the court read by prosecutor Donald Rees, Chilcote said: "I do want this immature, uneducated young person to know I am not intimidated by his criminal behavior. I will recover eventually, but will he?"
Chavez-Garcia, who jiggled his leg and fidgeted with his fingers through parts of the hearing, pleaded guilty to first-degree assault. He also pleaded guilty to second-degree robbery for an Oct. 13 attack on a 16-year-old boy in Gresham. Authorities say Chavez-Garcia punched the boy, ripped off his red bandanna and set it on fire.
After the sentencing, police released more details of the November assault.
Police said Chavez-Garcia, who is a Southside gang member, was spraying graffiti at a MAX stop before boarding an eastbound train with two friends. At the next stop, the youths pushed ahead of Chilcote. The man chided the teenagers for their rudeness.
Chavez-Garcia, struck Chilcote from behind, knocking him down. He hit him again as he lay in the street. A detective found Chilcote unconscious at a crosswalk near the station.
The attack generated widespread public outrage and calls for increased security on MAX. At the time, Gresham was the only city that didn't have surveillance cameras along the rail line.
The attack happened about 9:30 on a Saturday night, and there were witnesses. A passenger dialed 9-1-1. Chavez-Garcia was spotted and arrested a few blocks away.
Chavez-Garcia's attorney, Gary Bertoni, described the boy's upbringing as troubled.
Bertoni said showing off may have had something to do with it, but he also thinks alcohol and Chavez-Garcia's borderline low IQ contributed. Chavez-Garcia started using marijuana and methamphetamine when he was 14 or 15, Bertoni said. He stopped after seeing his best friend kill himself while high on meth.
"To cover the pain, he started drinking," Bertoni said. "He started knocking back 40s daily," Bertoni said, referring to 40-ounce bottles of beer.
Chavez-Garcia was well-known to Gresham police, and he often carried a baseball bat stuffed up his jacket sleeve, said Detective Tony Silva, a member of the East Metro Gang Enforcement Team. Chavez-Garcia had been arrested 11 times since he was 14, on accusations such as carrying concealed weapons, breaking into a car, stealing bicycles and burglarizing a home.
Chavez-Garcia probably will serve his sentence at the MacLaren Correctional Youth Facility in Woodburn. Although it's unknown how he entered the country, he is not a U.S. citizen and faces deportation proceedings once he completes his sentence.
Chilcote still has trouble walking. He fell and broke his hip in January. He returned home from a series of stays in hospitals and nursing homes in late February, nearly four months after the beating.
"It's a wonder it didn't kill me," said Chilcote, now 72.
Although he has health insurance, it doesn't cover all of his medical expenses. A trust account has been set up for donations at Wells Fargo under Chilcote's name.
He hopes to return this fall to his longtime position tutoring school kids for the Police Activities League and encouraging youth to steer clear of gangs and trouble.
Although he thinks TriMet hasn't done enough to improve safety on MAX, Chilcote said he has returned to riding it almost daily.
"I'm not going to duck and run," he said.
http://www.larslarson.com/show;jsessionid=C5A8A40E5B3B9F61CBED8C021063C2D3?action=viewTVShow&showID=451
This isn't a border town. It's 1000 miles north, Portland, Oregon.
In a letter to the court read by prosecutor Donald Rees, Chilcote said: "I do want this immature, uneducated young person to know I am not intimidated by his criminal behavior. I will recover eventually, but will he?"
More immigration news in Oregon.
Immigrants adjusting to license rules
Until recently, Elías Garcia of Salem had been in a quandary - he couldn’t decide whether to return his 2006 Chevy Tahoe to the dealership where he bought it or continue to drive the vehicle even after his driver’s license expires late next month.
Advertisement
He chose the latter.
“It wasn’t an easy decision,” the Honduras native said in Spanish. “I have a family to feed and bills to pay, so I need a car so I can get to work.”
On July 1, a new driver’s license law will take effect in Oregon. The new rule was set in motion by Senate Bill 1080, which was approved by the state Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Ted Kulongoski during a supplemental legislative session in February.
Under the new law, illegal immigrants will not be eligible to obtain, renew or replace an Oregon driver’s license.
Like Garcia, many plan to continue to drive without a license, said Abel Valladares, a community organizer with CAUSA, an immigrant-rights coalition in Woodburn.
“They aren’t leaving the state like some people had hoped they would,” Valladares said.
Some opponents of illegal immigration disagree, saying that as fewer unauthorized immigrants are allowed to drive, they’ll leave Oregon or self-deport.
“People already are moving out of the state and the country because of the driver’s license bill,” said Jim Ludwick, the president of Oregonians for Immigration Reform, a McMinnville-based group that advocates against illegal immigration.
Ludwick cited an article published in March by an Oregon newspaper, which reported that some undocumented immigrants planned to relocate to Vancouver, Wash.
Washington does not require proof of residency to get a driver’s license.
http://www.larslarson.com/show;jsessionid=C5A8A40E5B3B9F61CBED8C021063C2D3?action=viewTVShow&showID=451
Portland just needs more money to catch, detain, counsel and ultimately release this “at risk” troubled youth. /s
Portland just needs more money to catch, detain, counsel and ultimately release this “at risk” troubled youth. /s
Are you kidding me???? A freaking teenager has so little respect for others, or control over themselves that they think taking a baseball bat to a 71 year old over being chastised for being rude?
This animal should never see the light of day again in his life. This wasn't some temper tantrum that went overboard, this is a guy who's going to kill, mame, rape or otherwise harm society if he is ever out again.
Put him down like the dog he is.
whoops, sorry for the double post.
Actually there is something you can do - time. About 91/2 years worth. Should have been more.
ping
Sweet! I want one. I like the bike too.:<)
Figure, the POS.
Hopefully he will serve the full 9 1/2 and then be promptly deported.
Ping. Liberals love high gas prices because they will force us all onto mass transit. Once on mass transit we are all subject to the depredations of thugs. The only good thing about Oregon is easy Concealed Carry.
Chavez-Garcia will likely serve his time at the MacLaren Correctional Youth Facility in Woodburn. Although it's unknown how he entered the country, he is not a citizen and he will likely be deported once he completes his sentence.
The teen's girlfriend, Herminia Clemente, told KATU News that Chavez-Garcia was trying to get away from bad influences.
"He's been staying home lately, taking care of his brothers," she said. "He told me he was trying to stay away from it."
Curtis ??? with the Guardian angels is talking with Lars Larson now. Man, he’s all hot about illegal aliens doing this kind of thing ALL over the country.
Hey B! Remorse is supposed to abrogate the crime? Or diminish the length of sentence? Only in Oregon! And Vermont, and in California, and in Massachusetts and... and... and..... Compassion for the perpetrator, especially if he/she is illegal is dangerous to an American’s health! BUILD DUNCAN HUNTER’S DOUBLE BORDER FENCE!
....taking care of his brothers.....
An entire brood of little illegal alien/anchor baby gang bangers. Swell.
....taking care of his brothers.....
An entire brood of little illegal alien/anchor baby gang bangers. Swell.
Yet he drives a 2006 SUV, makes payments. I’ve never been able to afford that new a vehicle, how about you?
They seem to have a great sense of entitlement.
Since I believe in triple the penalty for illegal aliens this kid would get the death sentence if I were the judge. His lawyer pretty much said he is low IQ and brain damaged from “recreational” drugs and useless to society
But our president says illegal immigrants add so much to the fabric of our life.
But I don't suspect Mr. Bush or any of his ever ride public transportation.
Just another case of those “hard working” types from “south of the Rio Grande” with those “family values”! Now don’t come down to hard on the nasty little teen aged SOB, our “leaders” and our GOP presumptive candidate would not like it. After all, the vicious thug that did this, like so many other illegal alien thugs, are just one of “God’s children.”
/s off
I get so sick and tired of these illegal alien criminals coming into this country, getting perks, benefits, every damn body bending over to hand things to them right and left and they go out and rape, murder, and so forth. But Chertoff and company still haven’t built that damn wall.
Wake Up America!!
Funny, the recent Swedish, Polish and Greek immigrants have had little gang activity.
I live in WA and mexicans have flooded this area.
Is it written in our law somewhere that "troubled upbringing" = "not responsible for actions"?
I think every court in the country should promptly and explicitly ignore any such whining, until it becomes entirely useless to even attempt it.
See my post #23. I think he should get the death penalty then deport him
Happy landings, Abel.
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