Bat-attack victim talks after TriMet settles

SANDY, Ore. – For the first time since settling a lawsuit with TriMet after being brutally beaten at a MAX stop, 73-year-old Laurie Chilcote from Sandy speaks out.

He was hit over the head with a baseball bat in 2007 after reportedly chiding a Gresham teen for rudeness at a Gresham train station. The 15 year old has since apologized, and is serving a 9 1/2 year sentence.

On Jan. 20, TriMet agreed to compensate Chilcote for his claims that operators did nothing to stop the violent attack. The attack triggered outrage throughout the region and was one of several high-profile incidents that led to calls for increased security on the light-rail system.

The $75,000 that Laurie Chilcote was awarded is only a fraction of the near half-million dollars he was seeking. He expects he will only see about $40,000 after he pays his attorney and medical bills.    

Chilcote said he is disappointed in two things: 

"I'm shocked at how long it took, and how little it was," Chilcote said. "...It took the better part of three years, and I still cannot walk properly and I'm still in a certain amount of pain – and that's probably never going to end."