Berkeley Police Department officers arrested a suspect on suspicion of committing a hate crime April 8.

At about 9 p.m., a man was walking alongside his friend on Shattuck Avenue, near Addison Street, when a suspect came near them, according to a BPD Nixle alert from Monday. The suspect, after being told by the man to stay away, proceeded to follow the two people, yelling that they were of Chinese descent and threatening to harm them.

According to the alert, the victims were able to find safety in a business close by, and the suspect eventually left. Officers quickly identified the suspect as a 29-year-old man who had been recently arrested in the same area on suspicion of throwing a glass bottle at a moving vehicle. 

“The Berkeley Police Department recognizes and places a high priority on the rights of all individuals guaranteed under state and federal law,” the alert reads. “The commission of a hate crime is a serious offense, which will not be tolerated in the City of Berkeley.”

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