Judge Drops Some Charges Against 3 in Alleged Racial Assault

A Municipal Court commissioner reduced the number of charges Tuesday against three of four defendants accused of making racial slurs and assaulting a couple last May in a La Verne supermarket parking lot.

The defendants had been charged with assault and interfering with the civil rights of Manochehr Sadri and his wife, Farzaneh, of Glendora.

At the end of the prosecution’s case at a preliminary hearing Tuesday, Commissioner Joel Hoffman found no evidence to support charges that William Killackey of Yorba Linda, Killackey’s sister, Amy, of West Covina, or Scott Robert Wilson of West Covina had violated the civil rights of Farzaneh Sadri and dismissed those charges. He noted that Farzaneh Sadri testified that she was struck only by the fourth defendant, Timothy Robert Zaal of Glendora.

In addition, Hoffman dropped the civil rights charge against Amy Killackey in connection with the assault on Manochehr Sadri.

The dismissals still left all four defendants facing charges of felony assault and the three men facing additional charges of civil rights violations against Manochehr Sadri.

The couple testified Monday that anti-Semitic remarks were made by the defendants before they were assaulted.

La Verne Police Detective Steve Kirk testified Tuesday that Wilson was carrying cards in his wallet that said “America’s Security is Racial Purity” and “White Power.” Kirk said Zaal told him that “the white people have to stick together” and that the four rectangular tattoos on his body represented the number of nonwhites he had murdered. Kirk said he believed that Zaal was making a sarcastic remark and hadn’t really killed anyone.

The hearing will continue today.