Pregnant Black Woman Victim Of Hate Crime In Fullerton: OCDA

FULLERTON, CA — An African American woman riding a bus in Orange County was the victim of a hate crime this week, according to the Orange County District Attorney's office.

It was a Monday, like any other Monday as the bus pulled in to the Fullerton station. As the pregnant woman exited the bus Tyson Theodore Mayfield, a 42-7ear-old transient who has previously convicted of a racially motivated hate crime, "insulted her with racial slurs, and threatened her," the Orange County District Attorney's Office said.

The unnamed victim did the only thing she could think of: pepper sprayed him, in self defense.

"Mayfield allegedly grabbed her backpack and fled," prosecutors said.

She called the police after the incident, though Fullerton officers were unable to locate Mayfield. Still, a few hours later, he approached the victim again. She quickly sought refuge in a cafe nearby, according to prosecutors.

It is not known if he threatened her a second time, as of this report.

Police then arrested Mayfield, who has since been charged with a hate crime for the incident. He will return to court on Sept. 27 according to court records.

According to court records, this is not the first hate crime incident Mayfield has been involved with. He was sentenced to a year in jail in 2017 for a crime based upon race, but was released with time served, by Orange County Superior Court Judge Kazuharu Makino.

He also was arrested in July for "defecating in public" on July 3. He is still awaiting trial for that case, records show.

Fullerton Police Department Photo