Latino Teen Charged With Hate Crime After Stabbing 2 Black Men
COVINA, Calif. (AP) -- Police have charged a Latino teenager with a hate crime for the stabbing of two black men in a Covina shopping center parking lot.
Covina police Sgt. Gregg Peterson said in a news release Sunday that 19-year-old Louis Vasquez was arrested on charges of suspicion of attempted murder, use of a deadly weapon and a hate crime for the attack on two men Saturday evening.
Peterson says Vasquez slashed a 27-year-old man walking through the parking lot, cutting his right shoulder and left knee.
Peterson says the suspect then stabbed an 18-year-old store employee in the back as he retrieved shopping carts.
Police say the victims did not know each other and it was a racially motivated attack. The men were treated for their non-life threatening wounds at a hospital.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press.
