Irvine, California police arrested a 24-year-old Asian man Wednesday in a suspected hate crime after he struck a Black man with a metal pipe and hurled racial slurs at the victim’s teenage brother.
A 16-year-old Black teen was waiting for his older brother after sports practice at Irvine High School when Christopher Qu approached the young man with a metal pipe.
The teen — who is currently on spring break — was reportedly called racial slurs during the interaction with Qu. In a matter of a few minutes, the Black teen’s brother — who is also 24 — drove up to fend off the assailant, but he was struck with the metal pipe. In this unprovoked attack, Qu continued to spew racial epithets at both men.
According to police reports, Qu head-butted the teen’s brother and struck him with the pipe multiple times. The brothers were able to jump into their car and call authorities.
“The two victims are really nice, good people. They didn’t know the suspect. They didn’t provoke the suspect,” Irvine police spokeswoman Farrah Emami told media. “They were innocent victims in this case. They didn’t do anything wrong.”
The local news outlet KTLA reported that Qu was taken into custody on the suspicion of committing a hate crime. He was also arrested for suspicion of felony assault and assault with a deadly weapon.
The teen’s brother was the only person hurt in the altercation. The older victim was left with a laceration to his face and cuts and bruises on his arms, a police press release stated. The younger brother wasn’t physically harmed but still mentally distraught over the incident.
It is believed that Qu has a history of violence.
KTLA also reported that Qu, described as Chinese, was arrested February 23 and released March 22 from Orange County’s maximum security jail.
Police also have discovered the metal pipe, covered in the victim’s blood. It was found in the school parking lot, the release stated.
Here is the police report in full:
Screenshot of Irvine Police Department Press Release
