Man Convicted in Hate-Crime Assault

A Los Alamitos man was convicted Thursday of committing a hate crime when he and fellow skinheads assaulted a young Asian American man last summer outside an Orange punk rock club.

A Superior Court jury deliberated for five hours before finding 27-year-old Chad Salisbury guilty of assaulting the man with a deadly weapon during a hate crime.

Salisbury, who was taken into custody after the verdict, will be sentenced June 28. He faces a maximum eight-year state prison term.

During the three-day trial, prosecutors presented evidence that the victim, Mark Sanjay David, whose parents are from India, was beaten unconscious in an unprovoked attack by Salisbury and an undetermined number of his skinhead friends.

David testified that the men asked him to name “the super-Aryan race,” and warned that “the answer you give could save your life.”

But before he could respond, the skinheads threw David to the ground, then repeatedly kicked and stomped on him. They also struck him with metal pipes and other weapons, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Tom Glazier. No one else has been arrested.

David, 25, of Anaheim, suffered a broken nose, fractured skull and other injuries, Glazier said. His injuries required him to spend several days in intensive care.

Salisbury contended that he did not take part in the beating and was mistakenly identified.

Glazier said he was “very pleased” that jurors believed the prosecution’s version of the beating.

Albert David, the victim’s father, said Thursday the jury “did a good job.”

David said his son is still receiving therapy for his injuries.

“This sends a message to skinheads that they cannot get out and beat somebody up and get away with it,” the father said.