Man arrested in Victoria for hate-motivated assault on woman, children

A man was arrested in Victoria Wednesday after what police called a “hate-motivated assault on a woman and her children.”

Police said just after 12 p.m. Tuesday, a non-uniformed Victoria police officer was driving in the 3000-block of Quadra Street when they saw a shirtless man yelling and posturing aggressively toward a man and his child.

The man and the child moved away and were not harmed but the officer continued to follow the shirtless man towards Quadra Elementary School.

The officer called for more uniformed officers to attend, police said, and saw the suspect grab a broom handle and approach a woman walking with a stroller and her four children.

Police said the man spat at the family, yelling racial slurs about the family’s Asian ethnicity.

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The non-uniformed officer approached to intervene and the man then attacked the non-uniformed officer’s vehicle, damaging it, police said.

When uniformed officers arrived, they arrested the man and he now faces charges of assault and mischief.

Police said they are treating this incident as a hate-motivated crime.

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