A Nevada man is facing hate crime charges after he randomly attacked a Black man in a Walmart store in late 2019.
Richmond Collins Jr. did not know the man he attacked in a North Las Vegas Walmart on Nov. 3, 2019, reported The Las Vegas Review Journal. The 31-year-old told investigators he held “negative feelings toward African American people” and it “angered him” to hear hip-hop music coming from the speakers.
Collins began “looking for an African American person to attack.” He settled on the unidentified victim because he “felt he could easily beat the victim up” because of their difference in size. He punched the man and ran out of the store.
The victim suffered a broken orbital bone and a brain bleed severe enough to require surgery. He has no recollection of the assault. He only remembers waking up to other people trying to assist him.
A witness took a picture of Collins’ license plate and gave it to the police. Officers eventually tracked the car to a home owned by Collins’ mother.
Collins’ mother told police her son was a military veteran who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. She said her son’s condition “has been becoming increasingly worse” and he’s committed several unprovoked acts of violence.
Collins was arrested the following week and charged with battery with substantial bodily harm with a hate crime enhancement. He was released and placed on house arrest before he was arrested in April for violating the terms of his release by leaving the county. He was deemed fit to stand trial on July 30.
On Aug. 4, he was arrested again because the court considered him “a danger to the community and a flight risk.” The court added it “has no confidence” Collins “will ever return to court” on his own. His next hearing is scheduled for Aug. 25.
Collins is housed at the Clark County Detention Center in metropolitan Las Vegas.
