Hawthorne Plans Misdemeanor Charges for Grocer : Conflict: Korean market owner is accused of hitting a 12-year-old black girl who he claims stole candy from his store. The incident has led to picketing in front of the shop.

A Korean grocer in Hawthorne will be charged with six misdemeanor counts of assault and child endangerment for allegedly striking a 12-year-old black girl he accused of stealing candy from his store, Hawthorne City Atty. Michael Adamson said Wednesday.

The charges against Wha Young Choi, 59, were announced nine days after he was arrested by Hawthorne police at his family-run store, Don’s Market, at 4123 W. 120th St. At the time, police also detained the girl. Authorities are still reviewing whether the girl should be charged with petty theft.

The arrest of Choi and the circumstances surrounding his confrontation with the girl have sparked picketing in front of his market and pointed references by some local African-Americans to the March 16 shooting death of Latasha Harlins, 15, by a Korean-born grocer in Los Angeles.

On Wednesday, Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley’s staff met with representatives of the Brotherhood Crusade and the National Korean Grocers Assn. hoping to ease tensions and bring an end to the boycott of the market.

Deputy Mayor Mark Fabiani said the boycott had threatened to set back ongoing talks aimed at improving relations between Korean merchants and their African-American customers.

The girl’s parents, as well as the Hawthorne authorities, have steered clear of any charges that Choi’s alleged actions were racially motivated. Rather, they charge, Choi’s alleged assault of the girl represented inexcusable conduct by an adult against a child.

“If there is any specific concern here, it is not a racial one,” Adamson said. “But we do not countenance street justice on a 12-year-old kid.”

In an interview Wednesday, Choi insisted that he never struck the girl. “This (the prosecution) is a total surprise to me,” Choi said. “I don’t even have a lawyer.”

Choi was arrested by police on the morning of Dec. 10 only hours after the girl accused him of assaulting her on a quiet residential street as she walked to school. He was later released after posting a $250 bond.

In an interview, the girl claimed that she entered the market looking for gum and left with a bag of candy she had purchased earlier from another store. As she left Choi’s store, the girl said, the grocer chased her several blocks before grabbing her by the neck, kicking her in the stomach and punching her “five or six times” in the face.

Choi, however, has repeatedly denied striking the girl and claimed he chased her only to return her to the store and force her to admit she stole candy. “All I intended was to make the girl go to the store and call her parents. But I gave up when she strongly resisted,” Choi said Wednesday.

The girl, Choi has claimed, twice before stole food from his store.

When police were called, Lt. Mike Effler said, they noticed a small amount of blood on the girl’s lower lip, but no other evidence of an assault. The girl’s shoes were also missing, police said, and recovered at Choi’s store, where the market owner claimed that he had taken them to force the girl to return.

In the subsequent investigation, Hawthorne authorities said, witnesses to the incident offered different versions of what happened. One of those witnesses, Harry Hemlock, 76, told The Times that he saw the girl and the grocer struggle but did not see Choi strike the girl.

Originally, the Police Department’s findings were submitted to the district attorney’s office for possible felony prosecution of Choi. But after reviewing the evidence, Deputy Dist. Atty. Gilbert Garcetti said, prosecutors in Torrance declined to file any charges and sent the case to Hawthorne’s city attorney.

“It is not a case that should be prosecuted as a felony. And I am not sure it warrants any criminal prosecution,” said Garcetti, who heads the Torrance branch of the district attorney’s office. “But that will be a determination made by Hawthorne.”

Adamson said he and his staff quickly agreed that Choi should be prosecuted on two counts of child endangerment and one count each of simple assault, simple battery, assault with intent to inflict great bodily injury and one count of grand theft. The last count, Adamson said, arose from Choi taking the girl’s shoes.

If convicted of the charges, Choi could face up to a year in County Jail, but it is likely the grocer would be put on probation because he has no criminal record, Adamson said.

Adamson said his office decided to file an array of charges against Choi to give a judge and jury a range of options when the case comes to trial. “There are several versions of what happened, and all we are trying to do is give the jury a buffet, if you will, of charges that they could convict on,” he said.

Meanwhile, the girl’s mother said Wednesday that she wants a boycott of the store to continue until it is forced to close. “I want him closed so he cannot do this to another child,” she said.

The picketing, which began last week, was organized by the mother in conjunction with the Brotherhood Crusade and the Inglewood branch of the NAACP.