FREMONT – A 22-year-old Union City man is facing hate crime and battery charges in connection with an incident involving an Asian Indian woman and her two children earlier this month at a fast-food restaurant in Fremont, according to authorities.
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The incident happened on April 5 at a restaurant in the 38000 block of Fremont Boulevard.
The suspect, identified as Marcus Harper, approached the victims, took food from their table and ate it in front of them, the Fremont Police Department said in a news release.
Harper then walked away but returned and slapped the woman, police said, adding that he yelled a disparaging comment about her “perceived race or ethnicity” and threw a packet of dipping sauce at one of her children. The victims were not injured.
Harper was gone by the time officers arrived, but he was tracked down Tuesday and arrested.
Detectives submitted the case to the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, which filed the charges Wednesday.
“This act of hate based upon the perceived national origin of these victims is completely unacceptable,” District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson said a statement. “The message needs to be clear that such behavior will not be tolerated, and those who commit hate crimes will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
If convicted of the charges, Harper faces up to one year in county jail, prosecutors said.
Harper is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday at the East County Hall of Justice in Dublin.
Check back for updates.
