Palo Alto man arrested for alleged hate crime after violently attacking 2 people, police dog

PALO ALTO, Calif. (KGO) -- A man was arrested after an alleged violent hate crime assault on two victims in downtown Palo Alto over the weekend, police said.

At around 1:32 a.m. Sunday, police responded to the area of University Avenue and Waverly Street after reports of two males fighting. When officers arrived, they found two victims, a man in his 60s and a woman in her 20s, and a male suspect in his 20s. Police said the male victim had temporarily lost consciousness, while the female victim did not suffer any injuries. The suspect immediately fled on foot.

The preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect and female victim were acquaintances and had been at a downtown bar and house party with a mutual friends that night. The female victim left the home with the male victim and another man, both of whom she identified as gay. Police said the suspect followed the three on foot and continually called the two men homophobic epithets. When they got to University Avenue at Waverley Street, the men parted ways from the female victim, while the suspect stayed with her despite her telling him to leave her alone.

As the suspect refused and proceeded to say rude things to her, the male victim returned and told the suspect to leave the woman alone. Police said the suspect then punched the man several times and while continuing to direct homophobic epithets at him. The suspect also threw the woman to the ground when she tried to intervene.

When officers arrived, the suspect then fled on foot, before being caught hiding in a stairwell at an apartment complex on the 400 block of Everett Avenue, about two blocks away.

Officers attempted to negotiate with the suspect but he did not comply, and when a police dog was brought in, the suspect kicked the dog repeatedly, attempting to choke him. The dog bit the suspect in the leg and the suspect was taken into custody without further incident.

The suspect identified as 26-year-old Alexander Joseph Furrier of Palo Alto was treated for wound to his leg before being taken into custody. The police dog had a cut above one of his eyes and may have injured a paw.

Furrier was taken into the Santa Clara County Jail on charges of felony battery, felony hate crime, felony assault on a police dog and resisting arrest.