UPDATE: PSU graduate, target of racial slurs with parents on MAX, relieved over suspect's arrest

A man was arrested Thursday after making slurs about the nationality of an Indian student and her parents, telling them to leave the U.S. and spitting on the student's mother while riding a MAX train, a Portland State University spokesman said.

Steven Klopp

Steven Klopp, a 35-year-old transient, is set to be arraigned Friday, records show. He was arrested on suspicion of second-degree intimidation, a misdemeanor, and is being held in the Multnomah County Detention Center.

A man, since identified as Klopp, boarded a Green Line train at the university's Urban Plaza at the same time as the student and parents on June 15, spokesman Kenny Ma said. He said the incident happened on the train.

Ma said the university's Campus Public Safety Office investigated, identified Klopp as the suspect and arrested him at Southwest 10th Avenue and Market Street. Klopp isn't enrolled at the university, Ma said.

Klopp said after his arrest that he didn't know the alleged victim, who he described as a "foreign Indian," according to records.

Ma didn't identify the student, who reported the incident earlier this month, in a news release Friday morning.

Klopp's criminal record includes a 2016 first-degree criminal mischief conviction in Multnomah County, according to records. He's also set to be arraigned on a probation violation in the case Friday.

— Jim Ryan

jryan@oregonian.com

503-221-8005; @Jimryan015