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

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. 

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.