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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Case # 19HF0780
Date: October 17, 2019
PRESS RELEASE
San Clemente Man Convicted of Hate Crime for Punching African American Man
Santa Ana, Calif. – A jury found a San Clemente man guilty today of a felony hate crime for sucker punching an African American man who was working at a Laguna Beach grocery store. The attack left him with a broken nose and severe damage to his two front teeth.
Fernando Ramirez, 23, of San Clemente, was convicted of one felony count of battery with serious bodily injury, one misdemeanor violation of civil rights by force, and a felony hate crime enhancement.
The 26-year-old victim was working at the Whole Foods Market in Laguna Beach on June 15, 2019 when Ramirez ran up behind him and punched him in the face. The victim did not know his attacker.
After his arrest, Ramirez went on a rant filled with racial epithets that targeted African Americans.
“Hate does not belong in Orange County,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “If you commit a crime motivated by hate, I can promise you the Orange County District Attorney’s Office will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.”
Ramirez has a prior felony state prison sentence for a 2014 gang related felony assault. He was sentenced to two years in state prison.
Ramirez is scheduled to be sentenced in Department C39 on December 13, 2019. He faces a maximum of eight years in state prison.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Paul Chrisopoulos prosecuted this case.
Hispanic Man Who Sucker Punched Black Whole Foods Worker Found Guilty of Hate Crime
By
Lauren Floyd
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October 22, 2019
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A California man was found guilty of a hate crime Thursday for sucker punching a Black Whole Foods worker and leaving him with a broken nose and severe damage to two of his front teeth.
The 26-year-old man injured didn’t know Fernando Ramirez when the man approached the employee at the store in Laguna Beach, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a news release.
Whole Foods. (Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
The victim, who started his shift at 5 a.m. was on a lunch break about 10 a.m. on June 15 when Ramirez walked up from behind and punched him in the face as he turned around, according to a trial brief the Los Angeles Times obtained from Orange County Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. Paul Chrisopoulos.
Ramirez, 23, was later caught running from the scene of the attack, the newspaper reported.
He was placed in the back of a squad car, where he used a racial epithet to describe the victim, according to the prosecutor.
“Hate does not belong in Orange County,” Spitzer said in his office’s news release. “If you commit a crime motivated by hate, I can promise you the Orange County District Attorney’s Office will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.”
Ramirez was convicted of one felony count of battery with serious bodily injury, one misdemeanor violation of civil rights by force and a felony hate crime enhancement, Spitzer’s office reported.
Ramirez was earlier sentenced to two years in prison for a 2014 gang related felony assault.
His sentencing in the recent crime is set for Dec. 13, 2019, and he faces a maximum of eight years in state prison, Spitzer’s office reported.
