Cops Catch Man They Say Stole Wedding Ring From Portland Stabbing Victim

The suspect was seen after the attack with the victim's backpack.
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Police say they’ve apprehended a man they believe stole a backpack and wedding ring from one of the victims of last week’s stabbing on a Portland, Oregon, train.

George Elwood Tschaggeny was arrested Friday wearing the wedding ring of Ricky Best, according to a news release from the Portland Police Bureau. Police say Tschaggeny was previously caught on surveillance footage carrying the Best’s backpack after the incident.

The backpack contained “personal items important to the Best family,” detectives said in a statement.

Some of Best’s possessions ― including his wallet ― were missing from the backpack when officers recovered it. Tschaggeny is facing multiple charges, including second-degree theft and second-degree abuse of a corpse.

George Elwood Tschaggeny in a police booking photo.
George Elwood Tschaggeny in a police booking photo.
Portland Police

Best, a retired Army veteran and married father of four, was one of three men who stood up for two girls on Portland’s MAX train when Jeremy Joseph Christian allegedly began threatening them in a bigoted, anti-Muslim tirade. When the three men tried to intervene, police say Christian stabbed them, killing Best and recent college graduate Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche. The third man, Micah David-Cole Fletcher, survived but suffered serious injuries.

Portland police did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

This story has been updated with Tschaggeny’s name and additional details.

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