2 Arrested in Hate-Crime Case

El Cajon police arrested two men on suspicion of commiting a racially motivated crime and assault with a deadly weapon Sunday after they allegedly beat and stabbed a 17-year-old black youth.

Daryl Keith Griffin, 27, and Christopher Randell Tubiolo, 30, were arrested Sunday night at a bar in the 900 block of Greenfield Drive, said Acting Lt. Ed Forbes of the El Cajon Police Department.

The two men allegedly assaulted the 17-year-old black youth after he and a younger brother became involved in a verbal exchange with Melody Klock, 35, who worked part-time at the bar.

The youths and Klock exchanged words, then Klock directed a racial slur at the two youths, Forbes said. Klock told police the younger boy, who escaped and had not been contacted by police, punched her in the mouth, and both then ran away.

Griffin and Tubiolo, who were accompanying Klock, chased the youths into a condominium building on the 200 block of Chambers Street in El Cajon, Forbes said. The younger youth escaped, but the older brother was beaten and stabbed, reportedly after the two men kicked in the door of the condominium where he had been phoning for help.

The youth was taken to Sharp Memorial Hospital, where he was in stable condition with a cut that extended from the left side of his head to his collarbone.

Police did not release the names of the victims because of their ages.

Klock has filed a battery complaint against the two youths, Forbes said. He said the El Cajon police had recorded four other hate crimes this year.