Skinhead Sentenced For Hate Crime, Chasing Down Pregnant Woman: OCDA

ORANGE COUNTY, CA — A third-strike self-proclaimed skinhead was sentenced to 27 years to life for criminal threats and a hate crime, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said.

The sentencing was made after Spitzer successfully appealed the previous five-year sentence given to Tyson Theodore Mayfield in 2019 for chasing an 8-month pregnant Black woman from a Fullerton bus stop while yelling racial slurs and threats to kill her unborn baby.

According to Spitzer, Mayfield is a self-proclaimed skinhead with Swastika and SS lightning bolt tattoos on his body.

The case was appealed as an abuse of discretion by then-Orange County Superior Court Judge Roger B. Robbins.

"There is no such thing as an accidental racist. Hate is learned. It is practice and it is perfected by those who hate others simply for who they are and the color of their skin," Spitzer said. "The beauty of Orange County is found in our diversity and hate will never be allowed to destroy what makes us so uniquely beautiful."

The county's District Attorney's office has been working over the last six years to give Mayfield a longer sentence.

Mayfield — of Mission Viejo — was officially charged on Sept. 19 2018 with one felony count of hate crime criminal threats, one felony count of criminal threats, and one misdemeanor count of petty theft, and prior serious and violent felony convictions for assault with a deadly weapon in 2005 and mayhem in 2008 in Orange County.

He pleaded guilty to all charges and was sentenced in 2019 to the court offer of five years in state prison.

According to Spitzer, Judge Robbins initially offered a two-year sentence but increased the offer to five years after Spitzer appeared in court in 2019 to object.

Mayfield faces 27 years to life for an incident on Sept. 17, 2018, when Mayfield approached a pregnant Black woman sitting on a bus bench in Fullerton and yelled racial slurs at her.

The defendant reportedly clenched his fists and repeatedly threatened to make the victim "drop" her unborn baby. The victim, identified only as Jane Doe, pepper sprayed Mayfield before Mayfield stole her backpack and walked away.

The victim called the Fullerton Police Department, though police were unable to find Mayfield. When she later returned to the bus stop, Spitzer said, Mayfield approached her again, threatened to harm her, and used racial slurs.

Mayfield chased Jane Doe into a nearby cafe, where she remained until FPD found and arrested Mayfield.