SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A man was beaten up, kicked and smacked repeatedly with a bamboo stalk in a Logan Heights alley, and San Diego police today described it as a hate crime.
Officers and paramedics responded shortly after 7:30 p.m. Saturday to the alley in the 2200 block of Imperial Avenue, where the victim was beaten in an apparent random attack, according to Officer Robert Heims.
The 56-year-old victim, an African American, was standing in the alley when a Latino suspect walked up, and in police said was an unprovoked act, began hitting him. The attacker knocked the victim to the ground, then kicked him several times.
While pummeling and kicking the man, the attacker used racial epithets to express his dislike of African-Americans, Heims said. The suspect left the area, but returned a short time later.
"The victim was still trying to recover when the suspect started hitting him again," Heims said. "This time he was hitting him with a bamboo stick in the head and body."
The victim was hospitalized with several injuries, which were not considered to be life-threatening.
The suspect was described as a Hispanic man, 5 foot-5 inches to 5-foot, 8-inches tall, clean shaven, wearing a blue hat, blue t-shirt, blue shorts and low top shoes. He had two tattoos on both calves, possibly an "S" and "D."
He was wanted on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and committing a hate crime, Heims said.
