California man faces hate crime, hit-and-run charges after hurling racial epithets at Black people in parking lot: officials

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A California man was charged with a hate crime after allegedly hurling racial epithets at a group of Black people in a parking lot before striking at least one of them with his car last month, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced Monday.

Dennis Aaron Wyman, 42, of Redondo Beach, faces two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, a car, and one count of hit-and-run driving resulting in serious injury to another person "with the special allegation that the alleged crimes were hate crimes," according to a statement released by the district attorney's office.

His bail was set at $115,000. He faces a possible maximum sentence of 12 years in state prison if convicted.

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Prosecutors said Wyman began yelling racial insults at a small group of African Americans at the Staybridge Suites parking lot on Praire Avenue in Torrance, Calif., around midnight on June 29 before getting into his Chevy El Camino and driving toward them.

One of the people in the group – a 23-year-old – called his father, who works as an armed security guard nearby, Torrance police spokesman Sgt. Alexander Martinez said, according to Daily Breeze. When the father arrived to help, Wyman allegedly continued his insults, struck the man with the car and fled the scene, prosecutors said.

“The dad was there to see what was happening, the suspect was still yelling and was in his vehicle,” Martinez said. “He began to drive at the dad, the dad tried to get out of the way and at the same time he was able to fire multiple rounds of his handgun at the vehicle, but he was struck by the car.”

Dennis Aaron Wyman, 42, of Redondo Beach, faces two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, a car, and one count of hit-and-run driving resulting in serious injury to another person "with the special allegation that the alleged crimes were hate crimes," according to the Los Angeles County DA Office. 

The district attorney’s office said Wyman was “has been charged with assaulting two people in Torrance” but did not go into detail about how the second victim was harmed.

The father, a 50-year-old, suffered broken bones to his lower extremities, police said. He was treated by the Torrance Fire Department at the scene before he was transported to this hospital. He is expected to survive.

Investigators later identified Wyman as a suspect. He was located by Redondo Beach Police on July 8 during a traffic stop and taken into custody. The charges against him came two days later, KTLA reported.

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The case remains under investigation by the Torrance Police Department. Wyman's arraignment began Monday and was expected to continue Tuesday.