Santa Clara Woman Charged With Hate Crime After Laptop Assault During Alleged Anti-Immigrant Tirade
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) -- A 42-year-old Santa Clara woman has been charged with a hate crime after she allegedly assaulted a man with her laptop during an anti-immigrant tirade, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
The Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office said Sarah Ann Neal has been charged with battery and a hate crime -- both misdemeanors -- and is in custody on $30,000 bail. She will be arraigned Wednesday afternoon.
"We will have no tolerance for criminal intolerance in this county," said District Attorney Jeff Rosen in a news release. "We are all immigrants here."
On January 11, Neal allegedly approached the victim on the 300 block of California Ave. in Palo Alto and asked him for money.
When the man replied that he had none, prosecutors said her response was -- "You don't even belong in my country." She then asked for his identification. When he refused, she took out a laptop and allegedly struck him with it.
"The man tried to leave but she hit him again and – picking up a "No Parking" sign on the street, tried to strike him with that," prosecutors said in the release.
"You are the reason the country is going down," she allegedly told the victim during the attack.
The woman fled when a witness – who heard the suspect cursing at the victim and calling him an immigrant - said she was going to call police. The man suffered minor injuries and did not seek medical help.
About a half an hour later, Palo Alto police officers found Neal near Los Robles Ave. and El Camino Real and arrested her. She had a laptop.
