A University of California, Irvine student was spat at, hit by an electric bike and subjected to racial slurs by a group of teenagers in a case that’s being investigated as a hate crime, according to the school’s police department.
The attack took place on Feb. 27 at about 8:30 p.m. as the student was walking near the university’s Arroyo Vista Housing, according to UC Irvine police. The victim, who is a Black fourth-year student at the university, said he was on his way home from a cookout with his peers from the Black Student Union when he was approached by five teenagers on e-bikes.
The victim, who asked not to be identified out of fear for his safety, spoke with NBCLA about the harrowing attack.
“It was just a matter of trying to make it safely and make it back to my dorm and it was awful,” the victim said. “It was horrible.”
According to the student, the group of teenagers was made up of one girl and four boys.
“One of the juveniles was asking me a question about one of the sorority girls that was there. I told him to leave me alone, that’s inappropriate,” the victim said. “Another one came up, proceeded to call me a slur, it was the N-word, but soft A. I didn’t respond to it. I said, ‘Please, leave me alone.’ And I made the decision to head further up the road.”
The victim said as he was trying to get away from the group, they started to chase him.
“They were close enough that they were spitting on me, trying to grab at me, trying to do all sorts of heinous things,” he said. “I’m being called ‘monkey,’ ‘blackie,’ completely out of my name. Obviously, this is stuff I never expected to hear.”
During the attack, the victim said he was also called the N-word and was struck on the back of his ankle by an assailant who accelerated their e-bike toward him.
“It was the worst pain I had felt in a very long time,” the victim said.
Eventually, the victim ducked into the Rosa Parks dormitory for safety, called his friends and called police.
In a statement, the UC Irvine Chief of Police confirmed that a hate crime investigation is underway after “multiple juveniles on e-bikes used racial slurs, spat, and struck the reporting party’s back leg with the tire of an e-bike.” One of the teens was detained.
“The school says UC Irvine remains firmly committed to fostering a safe, inclusive, and respectful environment for all members of the community.”
According to UC Irvine police, one of the assailants was described as a 16 to 17-year-old boy who was about 5-feet-8-inches tall and weighed about 160 to 170 pounds. He had a white T-shirt, black pants, a black helmet and was traveling on a black e-bike at the time of the attack.
A second attacker was described as a 14-year-old boy who was 5-feet-5-inches tall and about 190 pounds. He wore a black shirt, denim gray pants, white Air Force 1 Nike shoes, a black helmet, a blue backpack and was also traveling on a black e-bike, police said.
The teens took off before officers arrived but one of the teens was detained at the East Campus Parking Structure. It’s unclear what charges that teenager may face.
Black Student Union President Eunique Sherow said the university and its campus police need to do more.
“We demand that these five juveniles be charged with assault and battery, and the one that clipped his ankle charged, and that they take more precautions to protect the black students here on this campus,” Sherow said.
Anyone with information on the case is urged to contact UCI Police at 949-824-5223.