Man charged with ethnic intimidation in assault of 2 Black shoppers outside Westborn Market
A 44-year-old Dearborn man is charged in what police say was a racially motivated attack with a baseball bat against two Black shoppers outside a grocery in Dearborn.
Jason Edward Lucas, who is white, has been charged with four counts of felonious assault and two counts of ethnic intimidation tied to the May 13 incident, Maria Miller, spokeswoman for Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, said Thursday.
Two Black shoppers were at Westborn Market on Michigan Avenue when Lucas "initiated an encounter with them and made several racial slurs," police said in a news release.
Lucas followed the shoppers into the parking lot of the upscale west Dearborn grocery. In the lot, Lucas "attempted to strike the victims with his vehicle as they walked to their car," police said.
Lucas then got out of his vehicle while carrying a baseball bat. He raised the bat over his head while continuing to shout racial slurs. Lucas followed the shoppers as they drove away, police said.
Police said they conducted interviews and looked at surveillance footage. They arrested Lucas on May 18, recovering the baseball bat they said was used in the incident. In addition to the assault and ethnic intimidation charges, he also faces a charge of habitual offender-4th notice, police said.
Lucas was arraigned before Judge Sam Salamey of Dearborn's 19th District Court, who set bond at $150,000 with GPS tether. He faces a probable cause hearing on June 3 at 8 a.m. before 19th District Court Judge Mark Somers, Miller said.
Lucas' court-appointed attorney, Robert Gold, said he hasn't yet spoken with his client. He said the number of charges filed against him seems like a lot.
"To have four assault charges in one case is really amazing," Gold said. "It's highly unusual."
A Dearborn Police spokesman did not respond to questions seeking additional information.
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Dearborn officials condemned the incident.
"There is no place in our society for such reprehensible behavior and these types of incidents will not be tolerated in the City of Dearborn," Dearborn Police Chief Issa Shahin said in a statement. "I’d like to commend the victims in this case for coming forward and our officers for quickly bringing this individual to justice.”
Last month, Dearborn police stationed officers outside mosques in the city after receiving reports of a man threatening Islamic houses of worship in metro Detroit and using his vehicle to ram drivers who are racial minorities.
Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud said: "We will not tolerate hateful ideologies that threaten members of our community, and we will always defend those who unjustly endure racist intimidation simply for being who they are."
Contact Niraj Warikoo:nwarikoo@freepress.com or Twitter @nwarikoo
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Man charged with ethnic intimidation in assault of 2 Black shoppers
