Man accused of anti-Asian hate crime near Palo Alto City Hall
A man accused of yelling a racial epithet at a woman in Palo Alto was arrested on suspicion of a hate crime, police said Monday.
On Friday at about 7 a.m., an off-duty Palo Alto officer was flagged down in the 600 block of Ramona Street by a woman reporting that she was being chased by a man. More officers arrived, but no one could locate the suspect.
The woman told police that just before 7 a.m., she was walking through Civic Center Plaza on Hamilton Avenue when a man suddenly rushed toward her in front of the entrance to City Hall. The suspect allegedly blocked her path aggressively and yelled a racial epithet about Asian people.
The woman, who is in her 40s, fled on foot with the suspect behind her, still yelling, police said. He stopped following her when she reached the street.
As officers got the woman's story, police dispatch received a call about a man harassing customers and walking in and out of traffic in front of the Town and Country Shopping Center on Embarcadero Road.
Police located the suspect and detained him. They believe he is the same man that had allegedly harassed the woman earlier.
Gavin Lamar Mour, 44, was booked into jail on suspicion of malicious obstruction and a hate crime.