Man accused of hate crime after alleged attack in downtown Palo Alto

PALO ALTO — A 35-year-old Walnut Creek man was arrested last week on suspicion of a hate crime after he allegedly assaulted a victim while telling him to “leave our country,” according to authorities.

The Palo Alto Police Department said in a news release Monday that it received reports of a man wielding a knife just before 9:30 a.m. Friday near the 200 block of University Avenue.

According to police, a man was sitting in his vehicle parked in the 400 block of Emerson Street when the suspect parked in front of him, approached his vehicle and started banging on the driver’s window with what the victim thought was a black pocketknife. The suspect then accused the victim of following him and yelled “Go back to your country,” “We don’t want to see you here” and “Leave our country.”

When the victim rolled down the window, the suspect spat in his face, police said. The victim then drove a block away and parked once again; the suspect followed him in a white van, and the victim called police.

When officers arrived just one minute later, the suspect didn’t obey verbal commands and instead ran from officers, authorities said. Police eventually caught up to the suspect and arrested him in Lytton Plaza.

Police later searched the white van and found brass knuckles wrapped in black electrical tape. Investigators believed that item was what the suspect was carrying during the encounter.

A second victim later called police and claimed that the same suspect approached him near the intersection of Lytton Avenue and Ramona Street. Authorities did not say when that incident took place.

Police say that in that incident, the suspect again approached a man seated in his car. The victim partially rolled down his window, and the suspect accused the victim of following him and attempted to punch the man. The suspect then broke the side mirror off of the victim’s vehicle, police said.

The man was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor counts of hate crime, battery, resisting arrest, assault and vandalism, and one felony count of possession of illegal weapon. He was booked into Santa Clara County Jail.