Man Faces Charges in Alleged Hate Crime
A white man accused of confronting a black man with racial epithets and then burning his hand with a cigarette on a Westwood street corner is facing hate crime and battery charges.
The charges against Bryan Christopher Dibucci, 27, were filed last week in connection with the Sept. 4 incident at Kinross and Gayley avenues, where the victim was waiting for a bank to open, said Mike Qualls, a spokesman for the city attorney’s office. Dibucci, of Venice, allegedly approached the victim and without apparent provocation began calling him racial slurs, then placed a lit cigarette against the victim’s right palm. Dibucci allegedly wrestled the victim, a 25-year-old Hancock Park man, to the ground, Qualls said.
Witnesses pulled Dibucci off the victim, and Dibucci was later arrested as he walked along Westwood Boulevard, Qualls said.
Arraignment is set in Los Angeles Municipal Court on Jan. 13.
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