by Araceli Esparza
Editor in Chief
The last thing freshman Angela Perry expected from college was a sense of fear. But when the University of La Verne student was confronted by a stranger last Friday, her trepidation of racism became a reality.
Perry said she was walking across the eastern end of ULV’s campus, northbound on D Street, around noon when an unknown male cornered her with his vehicle in the alley between the Armenian American International College (AAIC) and Barkley buildings.
“First, he asked if wanted a ride, and when I said, ‘No,’ I just kept walking, and he followed right behind me,” she said. “Then he was like, ‘Are you married?’ and I was like, ‘Who are you?'”
Perry said the man immediately became irate, at which point he revved his engine as if to infer he would run her over.
“Then he said ‘N—–r, get in the car,'” Perry said. “I said, ‘No,’ and he [bluntly] said, ‘Excuse me, get in the car.'”
“I wouldn’t think it would have escalated like that,” she said. “I just tried to walk away, and he just persisted.”
Perry described the man as a middle-aged Caucasian in his 40s. Though she could not detail the suspect’s prominent characteristics, Perry said his hair was dirty blond in color, about shoulder length and tied back in a ponytail. He had no apparent facial hair.
“When it got serious,” Perry said, “I really wasn’t looking at him anymore. I thought he was just crazy … it was crazy bitterness.”
At the time of the incident, the suspect was driving a light blue, four-door Toyota Corolla with tinted rear windows, Perry said. However, freshman Danielle Galindo said she witnessed most of Friday’s incident, and that she had seen the same man in a different vehicle — a white Toyota — the day before.
Both Perry and Galindo said they said they have heard that a man matching the suspect’s description has seen around the ULV campus on several occasions, at times asking for gas money, for a ride or whether a student was married.
During Friday’s incident, the suspect drove off once he realized that a few of Perry’s male friends, also ULV students, were westbound in the alley, in his direction.
“Somehow he got out of there, and I guess he went up to Bonita [Avenue] or something and came around,” Perry said, “because when we came to Second Street, where Circle K is, he was there at the stop sign, and he started yelling again.”
Perry said the man proceeded to shout additional racial slurs to the group as a whole. By this time, Perry had become emotional and shaky.
The man motioned to the students with his hand and finger, but he had nothing in it.
“He was acting like he was shooting a gun or something,” she said. “He was mad, angry.”
“He said something about South Central [Los Angeles], and like, ‘Go back to South Central. This is La Verne; this is our city, so get out,'” said junior John Roushion, one of the students walking down the alley during Friday’s incident.
Apparently, the man reached for something in the rear seat, at which time he left. The students almost immediately spoke with Campus Safety officer Nadia Velasquez, who escorted the victims to the police station and took a report.
“She was paranoid and scared,” Velasquez said of Perry. “She was so nervous she couldn’t get everything out.”
Velasquez said Perry also described the suspect as being heavyset, but “not that fat.” He does match the description of an assault suspect in the area, Velasquez said.
Officials are warning the community about this suspect. Last week’s incident is being investigated under the supervision of Sgt. Scott Pickwith, and because the matter is still being reviewed, details could not be disclosed by LVPD officials.
“Because of the investigation, we are still looking at the circumstances and the situation itself,” Pickwith said. “Our duty now is to investigate the report and see if any crimes have been committed by this individual.”
The detective said police officials are patrolling the area, and that an arrest will be made immediately when he is found. Currently, the suspect may be held for one of three crimes, including his role in a hate crime or terrorist attack. Once the severity of the crime is determined, officials will charge the suspect accordingly, Pickwith said.
For the time being, those involved in the case are warning others about this stranger. A memorandum was distributed yesterday to notify the ULV community about the incident.
“Walk with friends, and if you need an escort call us,” said Velasquez. “Run inside a building if you see him again and call security officers to inform them of the situation.”
Pickwith said that, if a situation such as this occurs once more, people should try to be good witnesses, taking note of as much detail as possible “without putting themselves in any danger.”
As for Perry, though she is disturbed by last week’s confrontation, she said it should not be taken personally.
“It is important to remember that things that are racially motivated are not always directed toward you,” she said. “They’re just ignorant people.”
