Nearly seven months after Darell Preston was brutally assaulted by a 40-year-old white man who broke his nose and fractured his face, he’ll be able to watch him face the consequences.
Last week, Daniel Thomas Warren, a white man, pleaded guilty to one count of assault in the third degree and no contest to one count of bias crime in the first degree, according to Fox 12 Oregon.
So while Warren admitted attacking Preston, he won’t admit that the crime was racially motivated, even though the 40-year-old white man was heard hurling a myriad of racial slurs, including the N-word.
In July 2023, police initially thought they were responding to a person they thought was hit by a car in the Portland area. What they found when they arrived at the scene was Preston’s bloodied and bruised face.
Preston, the owner of a local Portland food truck called LoRell’s Chicken Shack, claimed that he was delivering food when Warren ambushed and attacked him unprovoked with kicks and punches.
While being bombarded with attacks, Warren allegedly yelled, “I hit you n***er, stay on the ground!”
Video of the incident showed Warren walking away (before stomping on him one more time) and putting his bloody hands in his pockets as if nothing happened. He was taken into police custody days later, according to Fox 12 Oregon.
Since the incident, people in the community have rallied to support Preston and started a GoFundMe to help the food truck owner recover from his injuries which included “a broken nose, a fractured face, and lacerations to his eyes and mouth.”
Things are finally looking up for Preston who is reportedly back to work and healing from his injuries. The fundraiser has currently raised more than $89,000. Warren is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 21.