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Black Brothers Attacked By Man With Metal Pipe In Unprovoked Hate Crime, Police Say
The suspect Christopher Qu (Photo courtesy of Irvine Police Department)
A 24-year-old man was arrested in Irvine for allegedly attacking an black teen and his older brother in what authorities are calling a racially-motivated hate crime.The incident began around 2:50 p.m. on Wednesday, when the 16-year-old student was waiting outside of Irvine High School for his older brother to pick him up, reports the L.A Times. According to police, that's when the suspect, Christopher Qu, aggressively walked up to the teen carrying a metal pipe and shouting racial slurs. Just as Qu approached, the student's 24-year-old brother drove up to the school and jumped out of the car in an attempt to intervene. Qu immediately head-butted the older brother and hit him with the pipe.
The brothers were able to flee the attack, and call 9-1-1 from their vehicle. Qu, who neither of the victims knew, fled on foot before Irvine police arrived.
"The two victims are really nice, good people. They didn't know the suspect. They didn't provoke the suspect," Irvine police spokeswoman Farrah Emami told the Times. "They were innocent victims in this case. They didn't do anything wrong."
While the teen was not physically injured, the older brother suffered bruises and cuts to his face and arms.
Qu was later found by police and arrested on suspicion of a felony assault, assault with a deadly weapon and a hate crime, according to KTLA. The bloodied pipe was found in the parking lot of the school.
According to court records found by the Times, Qu had been released from jail just days prior to the attack. In 2013, he was also charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon, as well as one misdemeanor count for criminal threats. He pled guilty to the lesser charge, while the felony count was dismissed and he was sentenced to 84 days in jail and three years of probation. Then in February of this year, he was sentenced to an additional 60 days for violating probation and was released on March 22, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Department.
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