Man Gets Prison for Flame Attack

An Escondido man has been sentenced to nearly five years in prison for attacking a neighbor with a homemade flame-thrower in what prosecutors called a hate crime.

Jason D. Williams, 21, pleaded guilty to a hate crime, attempted arson and other charges stemming from the March 26 attack. Superior Court Judge David Gill sentenced him this week to 56 months in prison.

Prosecutors said Williams, who is white, shot flames 1 to 2 feet long at bushes in front of neighbor Midell Harper’s house and at his car. When Harper, 24, confronted him, Williams turned the flame-thrower, made from an aerosol can, on him.

Witnesses said Williams yelled a racial slur at Harper, who is black and had recently moved into the Rock Springs Road neighborhood of Escondido.

Residents chased Williams through the neighborhood and held him until police arrived.

Williams’ lawyer, Deputy Public Defender Marian Gaston, said her client was on a drunken binge and had not been motivated by Harper’s race.

Williams is not affiliated with any organized hate group, Gaston said, adding that his wife is Filipina and her adoptive father is black.

The charges carried a maximum sentence of six years and eight months in prison.