Two Men Accused of Hate Crime

Hate crime charges will be filed today against two white men who allegedly followed a Latino man to his Lancaster home and attacked him, mistakenly thinking he was from the Middle East, according to district attorney spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons.

Mark Martin, 20, and his uncle, Timothy Martin, 34, were booked after the incident last week on suspicion of assault and burglary against 47-year-old Gerald Pimental, according to Sgt. Paul Patterson of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

“It appears that these two suspects mistook the victim for a person of Middle Eastern descent” based on statements they made, said Sheriff’s Lt. Gordon Carn of the Lancaster station.

Pimental was driving on the Antelope Valley Freeway near Lancaster about 9:15 p.m. Friday when two men in a white truck tailgated him and bumped his car, authorities said. Pimental left the freeway and the men followed, bumping his car two more times and yelling at him, Patterson said.

The victim drove to his Lancaster home, where he fumbled with his key in the door. With his assailants bearing down on him, Pimental ran to the rear of the house, smashed a window and climbed inside, said Lt. Joe Impellizeri of the sheriff’s hate crimes unit.

As the men kicked in the front door and entered Pimental’s house, he ran to next-door neighbors and asked them to call 911. When Pimental realized he had left his 15-year-old daughter upstairs, he ran back into his home and grabbed a baseball bat to fend off the men, Impellizeri said.

The assailants overpowered him and beat him with their fists, police said. Impellizeri said sheriff’s deputies arrived shortly after.