Men Sought in Alleged Attack on City Worker

Authorities are searching for three young men suspected of attacking a city of Santa Clarita employee and making racial slurs after the worker refused them entry into a skate park.

The victim, a 33-year-old African American man, had asked the men to leave the closed skate park at about 8 p.m. Monday, but they refused, said Sgt. Howard Fairchild of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The park is popular with skateboarders and in-line skaters, Fairchild said.

One man then made a derogatory racial remark and attacked the employee, according to authorities. A fight and more racial epithets allegedly followed. The young men, all of whom are white, fled after the employee said that deputies were on their way.

No one was believed to have been badly injured, Fairchild said.

Though the incident “didn’t start off” as being a hate crime, it is being classified and investigated as a possible hate crime “because of the statements they made,” said Fairchild, referring to the young men.

California Penal Code section 422.6 prohibits a person from willfully injuring, intimidating, interfering with, oppressing, or threatening another person because of the person’s race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, gender or sexual orientation. The law imposes a maximum penalty of a year in county jail, a $5,000 fine and 400 hours of community service.

The men are about 20 years old, have brown hair and brown eyes, and stand about 5-foot-9 to 5-foot-10. Two weigh about 160 pounds and a third weighs about 180, according to authorities. The men left the park in three vehicles, including a black Honda and a red Ford Ranger pickup with a white camper shell.

Anyone with more information is asked to call Fairchild at (661) 255-1121.