Los Gatos Man Charged With Hate Crime Assault

LOS GATOS, CA — A Los Gatos man was charged with a hate crime assault after an Oct. 5 incident involving an Asian American woman who was walking her dog.

Richard Hanford, 62, was trying to get around the woman, who was walking on University Avenue in Los Gatos around 11:45 a.m., according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.

When she said he could walk around her, prosecutors said Hanford struck her twice in the face and told her, “This is America, (expletive).”

“Our community deeply values diversity, respects it, seeks it,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a news release. “Intolerance is not an American ideal. In these cases, it is a crime.”

Hanford was charged with a misdemeanor hate crime and an additional battery charge. He is set to be arraigned Nov. 16 and faces incarceration if convicted.