Gay Slur Spray-Painted On Garage Door In Claremont
CLAREMONT (CBSLA.com) — A gay slur was spray-painted on a garage door in Claremont and police are investigating the incident as a hate crime.
The vandal spray-painted the garage with a slur against gay men that begins with the letter F. CBS2 and KCAL9 does not use that word on the air or in print on our website. Underneath that word the vandal also wrote "Death" in large black letters.
The incident occurred in the 2200 block of Narrarro Drive.
Police believe the vandal spray-painted the message sometime between Monday night and Tuesday morning.
Police said the homeowner rents to an openly gay man. Two men live at the residence.
Rachel Kim, reporting for CBS2 and KCAL9, said both of the men have a connection to a local gay bar.
Anthony Martinez, who works at the bar, said "I don't know why people do this."
House mate Andrei Belov -- who used to work at the same bar -- said he was more shocked than saddened. "This is a really safe area," he said.
Martinez and Belov rent the home. They told Kim they had no idea who could have done such an act. The vandalism also included egging the residence.
Homeowner Helene Klein said she happily rents to gays. "I happen to like gay people," she told Kim, "I'm all for their rights and I feel very strongly about that. But something like this really has us shaken up."
In addition to the slur, and the eggs, Belov says he also received at least 17 calls from a blocked number starting at 3:40 in the morning. He says they called for almost two hours. "The only thing I could make out was something about a door."
Martinez had a message for the vandal. "Find something else to do. Find a hobby."
Anyone with information is asked to call Claremont police at 909-399-5411.
