PORT ANGELES — Police are investigating a reported assault by an 18- to 19-year-old white male as a hate crime, interim Police Chief Brian Smith said Thursday.
According to a police report, the victim of the 2:30 a.m. attack Sunday is a black man.
The victim, a college-age Clallam County resident who asked police not to identify him publicly, was treated and released at Olympic Medical Center for contusions and abrasions, including a welt on the left side of his face, police said.
“Our primary focus in a case like this is to look out for the interests of the victim,” Smith said. “He did nothing wrong.”
The victim said he was walking from a bar to a friend’s house when about six males and females who appeared to be high-schoolers got out of three vehicles at West Ninth and Cedar streets between the Eighth Street bridges and confronted him, Officer Harold Balderson said in a written report of the incident.
“He was walking along Cedar Street minding his own business, and these people arrived where he was,” Sgt. Jason Viada said Thursday.
“One person from the group beat the victim.
“The behavior of the suspect makes it racially motivated.”
The 18- to 19-year-old white male in the group yelled racial slurs while hitting the victim in the face with his fist three to four times, Balderson said in his report.
The victim, who “feared for his life,” did not fight back for fear of serious injury, according to Balderson’s report.
[“The victim] told the other people in the group to control their friend, but they did not,” Balderson said.
After the assailant “stopped swinging at him,” a second man started approaching him “in an aggressive manner,” according to Balderson’s report.
The group fled after the victim said he was going to call the police, Balderson said.
The victim does not live in the neighborhood where he was attacked, Viada said.
Not involved
Viada said police have talked to the owner of one of the three vehicles, the license plate of which was photographed by the victim.
The driver was not involved in the assault, the victim told police.
The assailant, described in Balderson’s report as 5 feet, 9 inches to 5 feet, 10 inches tall and wearing a red backward hat, tank top and jeans, could face a charge of felony malicious harassment, Smith said.
At least one other person faces a possible charge of misdemeanor rendering criminal assistance, Smith said.
Viada refused to comment on if there are suspects or persons of interest in the assault.
Viada also would not say if people being questioned in the case are cooperating with police.
He also said he was not comfortable saying how close police are to making an arrest.
“We have people we have to interview,” Viada said.
Report
Here are excerpts from Balderson’s report, in which the victim’s name was redacted:
The victim said the 18- to 19-year-old male approached him after getting out of one of the vehicles and started to call him racial slurs.
“As [the victim] was walking away from the male, the male started to hit [the victim] in the face 3-4 times with his fist,” Balderson said.
“[The victim] told females of the group to tell the male to go and leave him alone,” Balderson said.
The male kept approaching him, swinging at his face, calling him racial slurs, “and said that [the victim] was going to die,” Balderson said.
“[The victim] said he feared for his life and thought he was going to get jumped because he was black.
“[The victim] said that the suspect male said that he was surprised that [the victim] hadn’t dropped yet from the punches.”
“[The victim] said he was surprised too.
“[The victim] did not fight back or defend himself because he thought that the group would jump him.”
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.