A 51-year-old homeless man was arrested early Friday for allegedly stealing the wedding ring and backpack from one of the MAX train stabbing victims as he lay dying.

Acting on multiple tips from the community, Portland police officers tracked down George Ellwood Tschaggeny at a small transient encampment near Cesar Chavez Boulevard and Interstate 84. He was taken into police custody about 2 a.m.

George Ellwood Tschaggeny

An employee of a nearby Domino’s Pizza called police late Thursday or early Friday to provide a detailed description of the suspect, said police spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson.

At the time of his arrest, Tschaggeny was wearing the wedding band belonging to Rick John Best, 53, Simpson said. Best was a father, Army veteran, city of Portland employee and one-time candidate for Clackamas County commissioner.

“It’s completely heartless,” said Simpson. "There is no other way to describe what happened."

Simpson said officers also found Best’s backpack, but his wallet remains missing. He said phone numbers that are “most precious to the family” were in the wallet and he urged anyone with information about the wallet to come forward.

Tschaggeny was booked into the Multnomah County Jail on accusations of second-degree theft, tampering with physical evidence and second-degree abuse of a corpse. He is scheduled to be arraigned Monday.

Simpson said Tschaggeny exploited a chaotic situation on the train as people tried to help the stabbing victims a week ago. It was during that confusion, Simpson said, that the suspect was able to take Best’s things and leave.

Detectives are trying to sort out whether he was on the train at the time of the stabbing or whether he came on board after the attack, Simpson said.

Police were determined to find the thief, he said.

“People in the community saw this and felt the understandable rage that I think everybody felt,” he said. “It’s an added layer of tragedy for this family. I can tell you from the investigators on down to the patrol officers, when we got this information, everybody wanted to find this guy.”

“It’s just unconscionable to do what he did,” he said.

Tschaggeny has been arrested or cited 25 times in Oregon since 1998, mostly for alleged traffic-related violations and mostly in Multnomah County.

Earlier this year Tschaggeny pleaded guilty to unauthorized use of a vehicle. He admitted to taking a vehicle Feb. 17 from a woman in Washington County.

In the plea agreement, Washington County Judge Suzanne Upton sentenced Tschaggeny to 18 months of probation and ordered him to perform 64 hours of community service. He was fined $390 in court costs. A possession of a stolen vehicle charge was dismissed.

Also, last Sept. 9, Tschaggeny was accused of attempted burglary. An intake document shows that Tschaggeny, born in Utah and discharged honorably after serving eight years in the Navy, was homeless.

Best was headed home to Happy Valley last Friday afternoon when he and others came to the aid of two girls who were the target of Jeremy Joseph Christian's racist vitriol, according to police and witnesses.

Christian is accused of pulling a knife and striking three men who came to the girls' defense, killing two of them. Late Thursday, police released surveillance images and video of a man who stole Best's belongings.

A video taken the day of the stabbings shows the suspect emerge from the train carrying two bags.

(Kale Williams and Allan Brettman of The Oregonian contributed to this report.)

-- Noelle Crombie

503-276-7184; @noellecrombie