A witness provided video evidence showing a physical altercation between the suspect and a resident who confronted him, according to information presented during the hearing. The public defender said there is more to the case.
The charges follow an incident about a month ago, when a wall outside a Castro neighborhood flower shop was spray-painted with homophobic writing. The San Francisco District Attorney's office said the suspect is responsible and described the acts as hate crimes.
"We have filed a number of charges including one felony count of assault with a deadly weapon, a hate crime allegation, assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury, also with a hate crime allegation, interference with another's civil liberties, which is also a hate crime, vandalism, a hit and run and reckless driving," said District Attorney Brooke Jenkins.
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Jeffrey Dumlao owner of the flower shop, Chartreuse by Roje said he discovered vandalism after a neighbor alerted him.
"I felt just violated. I'm going to get emotional just thinking about it. It doesn't happen here. Sorry. It doesn't happen in San Francisco. It doesn't happen in the Castro. We built this city and protect it ourselves," said Dumlao.
Authorities said a resident who came out to confront the suspect was punched in the face.
"I have tried to make clear that in San Francisco, we have zero tolerance for any hate, hateful acts. Certainly, that crossed the criminal line. And we will do everything that we can to protect our residents from these types of incidents," Jenkins said.
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After the court appearance, Deputy Public Defender Pardeep Heyer said the suspect's vehicle had been egged and keyed before the altercation.
"We can understand those facts when we further investigate the case, when we talk to individuals, witnesses. But as you can tell by the video, there's certainly more context to the situation. And we'll discover that as we litigate the case. But, today's a very short snippet of what this case is about, and we look forward to kind of laying out the whole picture for everyone," Heyer said.
The public defender also asked for the suspect to be released, citing no criminal history in California and his 10 years in the armed forces. A judge denied that request.
The suspect is scheduled to return to court July 2.