Crime & Safety
Man Gets Prison For Laguna Beach Hate Crime
A San Clemente man was sentenced to prison Friday for sucker punching a Laguna Beach Whole Foods Employee because he was black.
SANTA ANA, CA — A 23-year-old San Clemente man was sentenced to six years in prison Friday for sucker-punching a black Whole Foods employee in Laguna Beach.
Fernando Ramirez was convicted Oct. 17 of a felony count of battery with serious bodily injury with a sentencing enhancement for a hate crime and a misdemeanor count of a hate crime.
Ramirez was given credit for serving 420 days in jail.
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He has a prior conviction in 2014 for felony assault with a sentencing enhancement for gang activity.
The victim, who started his shift at 5 a.m. at the grocery store at 283 Broadway, was on a lunch break about 10 a.m. June 15, when Ramirez walked up from behind, got his attention and punched him in the face as he turned around, according to a trial brief from Senior Deputy District Attorney Paul Chrisopoulos.
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The victim suffered a broken nose and nerve damage to a tooth, which required removal, according to the prosecutor.
Ramirez was caught running from the attack. After he was placed in the back of the squad car, he called the victim a racial epithet multiple times, according to the prosecutor.
Ramirez told a police officer, "Someone in the bathroom just called me a (expletive) beaner," according to Chrisopoulos' sentencing brief.
He demanded segregation from black inmates in the jail, the prosecutor said.
"The defendant was adamant about being segregated from African Americans in jail and admitted to punching the victim because of his race," Chrisopoulos said in the court papers.
Ramirez even allegedly attacked a sheriff's deputy when he tried to place him in a cell with a black inmate, Chrisopoulos said. Ramirez is facing charges in that alleged attack, the prosecutor added.
The victim said he cut his hair short because he feared the defendant would recognize him, the prosecutor said.
"He used to have his hair long and in dreadlocks," the prosecutor wrote.
Ramirez was also convicted of domestic assault in 2018, the prosecutor said.
The defendant's mother wrote a letter to the judge before sentencing, saying her son has struggled with ADHD, drugs and schizophrenia.
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