Robert Avery yelled racial slurs at people of Middle Eastern descent and tried to drove over them, deputies said. (Images: Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office)
A registered sex offender terrorized a local park, trying to drive over people of Middle Eastern descent and threatening to “shoot and bomb” them, according to deputies in Sacramento County, California.
Authorities launched a manhunt for Robert Steven Avery, 33, before arresting him without incident Monday morning.
The alleged hate crime incident happened Sunday night at approximately 7:30 p.m. when deputies got numerous 911 calls about a man trying to run over people at Heron Landing Park in the city of Rancho Cordova, police said.
“Callers also reported the subject targeting and yelling racial slurs at parkgoers of Middle Eastern descent, threatening to ‘shoot and bomb’ them,” the sheriff’s office wrote.
“From there, he’s yelling at kids, yelling at women… yelling at everybody he can that he was going to shoot them, he was going to bomb them, yelling all kinds of racial slurs,” sheriff’s office spokesman Sgt. Amar Gandhi told KXTV.
Rancho Cordova cops and Sacramento County deputies determined no one got hurt.
“Sheriff’s Bias Based Crimes Detectives and Crime Scene Investigators responded to the scene a short time later and began their investigation,” they wrote.
Citing witness accounts, footage, and other evidence, authorities claim Avery, a resident of nearby Orangeville, was responsible.
“We actually have our CSI unit, our crime scene investigations unit, that’s out there,” Gandhi said, according to KCRA. “They’re taking measurements of the tire prints. I mean, we’re treating this a lot like we would treat a homicide scene. There’s no stone that will be left unturned.”
Upon the launch of the manhunt, deputies highlighted a cash reward of up to $1,000 for tips leading to an arrest. Avery allegedly drove a 2012 Honda Insight.
“He is currently wanted for PC 245 (Assault with a deadly weapon); PC 422 (Criminal threats); and PC 422.6 (Hate crime statute),” deputies wrote.
They considered him armed and dangerous. Law enforcement later announced that they arrested him without incident Monday morning.
Sex offender records show that he was previously convicted of a charge of annoying or molesting a child under 18.
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