Man Gets 4 Years In Prison For Culver City Hate-Crime Beating

CULVER CITY, CA — A homeless man was sentenced to over four years in federal prison Monday after he was convicted of hitting an Asian woman in the head in Culver City while he shouted racial slurs at her.

Jesse Allen Lindsey, 38, whose last known address was in Fontana, pleaded guilty in December to one federal hate crime count. He was sentenced Monday to four years and three months in prison. The crime carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Lindsey was indicted in May on the hate crime charge while he was in state prison on an unrelated conviction, prosecutors said.

The hate crime charge stems from a June 14, 2021 incident, captured on surveillance video, when the victim was walking to work in Culver City at 1 a.m. Lindsey, who is white, asked the woman for a lighter or cigarette, prosecutors said.

After she told him she did not smoke, Lindsey began following her and yelling at the woman, whom he perceived as an Asian American man, prosecutors said.

“You [expletive] Asian guy, turn around," Lindsey yelled, according to prosecutors, who said he also called her "Korean."

“You [expletive] Asian guy, you don’t belong here,” Lindsey continued.

Lindsey punched the woman in the head, knocking her to the street, where she hit her head. While the woman was lying face down in the street, Lindsey shouted “You hear what I said, [N-word]? I said good morning, bitch," according to prosecutors.

The woman was transported to a local hospital, where she received some 11 stitches in her face. She sustained injuries to her head and ear, which left her unable to work for a month and caused her ongoing pain for a year, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

After seeing news reports that law enforcement were investigating the incident as a hate crime, Lindsey fled California out of fear that he would face tough prosecution, authorities said.