2 Elderly Iranians Threatened on Street

A Huntington Beach man has been arrested on suspicion of making a death threat against an elderly Iranian couple out for a morning stroll in their neighborhood, police said Monday.

Steven James McManus, 43, probably will be charged today with a felony hate crime, said Lt. Bill Peterson, a spokesman for the Huntington Beach Police Dept.

According to investigators, the 77-year-old man and 74-year-old woman were taking a walk about 9 a.m. Sunday at Bushard Street and Mokihana Drive near their home when McManus drove by, made an abrupt U-turn and demanded to know where they were from.

When they told him, Peterson said, he started yelling at them to go across the street or he would kill them.

“They were very tearful and in fear of their lives,” Peterson said of the couple, whom police declined to identify, citing concern for their safety.

As the couple were crossing the street, a neighbor who witnessed the incident picked them up in a car and took them to the home of their son, who lives nearby, and he called police, Peterson said.

Based on information provided by the neighbor, McManus was arrested at his home several hours later, Peterson said.

Investigators think the incident may be linked to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

“This has been the city’s first hate crime” since then, Peterson said. Except for the Sunday incident, he said, “it’s actually been pretty quiet. People have been treating each other fairly well.”