MAX train driver harassed; man arrested and charged

Ariel Salk and Tim Steele

21 mins ago

A Yellow Line MAX train at the Expo Center in Portland, June 11, 2024 (KOIN)

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The man accused of harassing a TriMet driver on Monday made his first court appearance in Multnomah County, the latest in a series of recent incidents involving MAX trains.

Court documents obtained by KOIN 6 News show that a MAX driver was getting out of the cab of the Yellow Line at the Oregon Convention Center when a passenger approached him.

“My understanding is that the incident occurred when a driver left the cab and spoke to a person about the red button that you press to stop the train,” TriMet spokesman Tyler Graf told KOIN 6 News. “And that’s where it kind of started.”

35-year-old Robert Alvarez is now charged with harassment and obstruction of public transportation. Both charges are misdemeanors.

Other incidents have recently come to the public’s attention.

On March 29, a fatal knife attack occurred on a MAX train in northeast Portland. In this case, the 51-year-old Shondel Larkin is charged with premeditated murder and illegal use of weapons

At the beginning of the year, a woman sentenced to 10 years of psychiatric treatment after pushing a small child onto the tracks of a MAX train in December 2022. Brianna Lace Workman, now 33, was standing near a mother and her child on the MAX platform at the Gateway Transit Center when she pushed the child off the platform.

And in May MAX train driver was celebrated as a hero after he managed to stop his train and thus prevent a man who had been pushed onto the tracks from being hit.

Shirley Block, president of ATU 757 – the union that represents TriMet – said she is very concerned about the safety of all TriMet members. She is also interested in how safety officers can be better structured.

TriMet officials said they would more than quadruple their security budget starting July 1.

Graf said the MAX train driver was “fine. You know, when an incident like this happens and a train driver, an employee or a passenger is affected, we are always deeply saddened.”