A physical and verbal assault on an Ethiopian man in downtown Davis is being investigated as the area’s second hate crime to be reported in just over a week.
Davis police said they were dispatched at 10:42 a.m. Tuesday to the Amtrak train station on Second Street, where the 32-year-old alleged victim said he had just been attacked by a white male.
“The victim told officers the suspect approached him and made an unprovoked and racially derogatory comment towards him,” police said in a Nixle crime alert issued that afternoon. “The suspect then kicked the victim on the shin and pushed him down using his hands. The victim lost his balance and fell onto a concrete bench. The victim suffered minor scrapes, but declined any medical attention.”
Police described the assailant as a white male, 40 to 50 years old, standing about 5-foot-7 with a medium build, short brown hair and a mustache. The alleged victim told officers the suspect may have been holding a bottle and likely was intoxicated.
Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact the Davis Police Department at 530-747-5400.
“The Davis Police Department is investigating this case as a hate crime because of the derogatory comment made by the suspect just prior to the attack,” the Nixle alert said. “It is the policy of the Davis Police Department to thoroughly investigate all crimes that are motivated by hate and to prosecute offenders to the fullest extent of the law. Detectives were called out to pursue any possible leads and are actively attempting to identify to the suspect.”
Tuesday’s incident occurred eight days after a reported hate crime on the UC Davis campus that resulted in three arrests.
In that incident, a female African American UCD student reported having items thrown at her and being called racial slurs during the early hours of Feb. 15 while walking near her residence in West Village.
She immediately called police, who arrived on scene and took three suspects into custody nearby. The woman did not require medical attention.
Two of the suspects, Lonny Doyal Lee, 24, of West Sacramento and Justin Sheppard, 22, of Sacramento, were arrested on suspicion of assault and battery, committing a hate crime and public intoxication. A third man, 22-year-old Jake Lee of West Sacramento, was arrested for alleged public intoxication.
All three are scheduled to appear in court on May 10.
The attack was denounced by campus officials and prompted members of UCD’s African diaspora to hold a march and press conference Monday in which members demanded improved safety measures on campus, according to the California Aggie newspaper.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene