A police chief in California said he was “disgusted” when he learned that his 18-year-old son was arrested in connection with the beating of a 71-year-old Sikh man.
Darryl McAllister, police chief of Union City, revealed on the department’s Facebook page Wednesday that he and his wife helped police in Manteca capture his son
“I am completely disgusted in sharing with you that, later yesterday evening, I received a call from the Manteca PD that the suspect in this horrific crime turns out to by my 18-year old son,” Darryl McAllister wrote. “He has been estranged from our family and our home for several months now.”
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Police took suspects Tyrone McAllister, 18, and an unidentified 16-year-old boy into custody on Wednesday, local NBC affiliate KCRA reported. The two suspects were charged with attempted robbery and elder abuse, in addition to assault with a deadly weapon.
McAllister and the 16-year-old allegedly attacked Sahib Singh while he was taking a walk through a park in Manteca early Monday morning.
Surveillance footage of the attack shows two people confront Singh, kicking him to the ground and knocking off his turban.
Singh, who does not speak English, was treated at the hospital and later released.
Manteca police said in a statement they are investigating whether the incident “meets all of the legal elements for charging as a hate crime.”
Darryl McAllister wrote that his son began to “lose his way” several years ago and fell in with a bad crowd.
“Words can barely describe how embarrassed, dejected, and hurt my wife, daughters, and I feel right now,” McAllister wrote. “Violence and hatred is not what we have taught our children; intolerance for others is not even in our vocabulary, let alone our values. Crime has never been an element of our household, our values, nor the character to which we hold ourselves.”
The arrests come a week after a similar assault on a Sikh man in Stanislaus County, Calif.
A 50-year-old man named Surjit Malhi was beaten by two men and told to “go back to [his] country” while he was posting campaign signs in support of Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.).
Malhi told a CBS affiliate that his turban softened the blows to his head and may have saved his life.