Man Arrested On Hate Crime Charges In Irvine
IRVINE (CBSLA.com) – A man is facing hate crime charges, suspected of harassing two women earlier this year in Irvine, one of whom was wearing hijab.
Thirty-five-year-old Brandon Ricardo Pascual was arrested on two felony counts of assault -- hate crime with ability to cause injury Wednesday, according to Irvine police.
On the evening of March 1, two women were walking out of a Target store at 3750 Barranca Parkway when a man in a silver Toyota Camry pulled up alongside them and used a religious slur, police said. One of the women was dressed in a hijab.
A few moments later, the women were in their vehicle, stopped at a traffic light at Culver Drive and Alton Parkway, when the Camry pulled up alongside them and the same man began throwing coins at them through their open window, police said. The passenger was struck by a coin, but was unhurt.
The women were able to get a partial license plate on the Camry as it drove away, police said.
Pascual is being held in the Central Men's Jail in Santa Ana on $50,000 bail. His first court hearing is scheduled for Friday in Orange County Superior Court.
