Grocer Is Accused of Assaulting Girl Patron : Hawthorne: A Korean market owner says a young black girl stole candy from his store. She says he beat her. Wary police hope race tensions don’t flare anew. Girl’s mother plans picket at store.

Hawthorne police said Thursday that they are investigating complaints that a Korean market owner assaulted a 12-year-old black girl he suspected of stealing two lollipops from his store.

The Tuesday morning incident led to the arrest of Wha Young Choi, 59, of Hawthorne on suspicion of misdemeanor assault. It also led Hawthorne police to question the girl about the alleged petty theft before she was released to her parents.

Choi was released after posting $250 bond, and both he and the girl could face misdemeanor charges when police conclude their investigation. The girl’s identity was not released because of her age.

Lt. Mike Effler said that Choi, the girl and witnesses have offered contradictory versions of what took place after the girl entered Choi’s small, family-run store, Don’s Market, 4123 W. 120th St., shortly before 8 a.m. on Tuesday.

Effler said Choi contended that the girl fled the market after stealing candy and that he chased her several blocks in his car before grabbing her and retrieving the lollipops. The girl, however, told police that the candy had been purchased at another market and that Choi punched her several times and kicked her in the stomach during a struggle over the candy.

After the girl went to police to make a citizen’s arrest of Choi, Effler said, officers noted that the girl had a small amount of blood on her lower lip. Effler added, however, that investigators could find no physical evidence that Choi had hit the girl and that no witnesses interviewed by police had confirmed her story of being punched.

“The allegations on both sides don’t match, and we have to figure out which is the most truthful,” Effler said.

Although under either scenario the case would be considered a misdemeanor, Effler said that Hawthorne police have given considerable attention to the incident because of months of strained relations throughout Los Angeles County between Korean store owners and black customers.

The tensions have run particularly high since the March 16 shooting death of Latasha Harlins, 15, by a Korean-born grocer in South-Central Los Angeles. The grocer’s sentencing to probation after her conviction of voluntary manslaughter has also fanned tensions.

With that as a backdrop, Effler said, Hawthorne police were being especially careful about disclosing results of their investigation until its completion.

“This is a sensitive issue in Los Angeles County, and we want to make sure nothing is overlooked,” he said.

Late Thursday, Choi vehemently denied the girl’s allegations but conceded that he had chased after her to bring her back and force her to tell her parents that she had shoplifted.

“I swear to God there was no hitting involved,” he said. Choi said he grabbed the girl by the shoulder but she resisted, so he gave up his effort to bring her back to the store. He claimed it was the third time the same girl had stolen food from his store.

In an interview, however, the girl denied stealing anything from the store and claimed that Choi kicked her once in the stomach and punched her “five or six times” in the face.

The girl’s mother, meanwhile, said she has drafted flyers calling for a boycott of the store and will organize picketing of the market on Saturday to draw attention to the alleged assault. She said the Inglewood branch of the NAACP will join the picketing.

“She very well may have taken something. I cannot deny that right now,” the mother said. “But she says she didn’t . . . and my point is that if she was wrong, you take her and hold her and call the police. You don’t beat up a little girl.”

The investigation of the incident, Effler said, was expected to be completed by this morning. In Choi’s case, he said, the results will be turned over to Hawthorne City Atty. Michael Adamson. Because the girl has been accused of petty theft, Effler added, the findings will also be turned over to the district attorney’s unit handling misdemeanor allegations against juveniles.