American woman of Portland arrested for pushing a baby down the train tracks

Brianna Lace Workman appears in Multnomah County court for an arraignment on Dec. 29, 2022. She’s suspected of shoving a child onto MAX train tracks in Portland on Dec. 28, 2022.

By Edward Era Barbacena

A deranged white woman is facing charges after the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office said she shoved a child onto the MAX train tracks in Portland, injuring the child and interfering with public transportation. 

Brianna Lace Workman, 32, was arraigned Thursday on charges of first-degree attempted assault, third-degree attempted assault, interfering with public transportation, second-degree disorderly conduct and recklessly endangering another person. 

According to the district attorney’s office, Workman was near a mother and her child at the Gateway Transit Center MAX platform when Workman allegedly shoved the child off the platform and onto the MAX train tracks. 

There was nothing the 3-year-old child did to provoke the attack, the district attorney’s office said. 

TriMet surveillance video of the incident shows someone wearing a red hat pushing a child in a pink coat onto the rails, causing the child to land face-first on the metal rail of the track and rocks before she was pulled back onto the platform by bystanders who rushed toward the child.

The child reported having a severe headache after falling, according to the DA’s office, which added the child also had a red mark on their forehead after the incident. 

The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office has filed charges and is requesting Workman remain in custody and be held without bail.

As of Thursday afternoon, Workman remained in jail.

At the arraignment Thursday, her defense attorney said “At Ms. Workman’s request, I am not requesting her release at this time, but I am objecting to the state’s motion of preventative detention.”

The preventative detention hearing is scheduled for Friday.