Home surveillance video shows a man kicked to the ground and spit on in a Manteca neighborhood, according to KTLA sister station KTXL in Sacramento.
Police in Manteca, which is a little over 50 miles south of Sacramento, say the assault happened Monday morning in front of Graystone Park. Investigators say the attack was an attempted robbery, but the family of 70-year-old victim Sahib Singh Natt is calling it a hate crime.
Natt was on his daily walk around the park when he was approached by two men, one wearing a black hoodie, the other wearing a white hoodie.
“He was in such a shock. He was not able to tell us exactly what happened so he would tell us one thing and then he will mumble and say something else,” relative Parminder Singh Sahi said.
Natt has had trouble communicating since an epileptic seizure seven years ago. Still, his family said the assault left him visibly upset.
The only clues are in the video.
“We were disheartened, we were shaken, it was way worse than what we were thinking may have happened to him,” Sahi said.
In the video, Natt is seen walking away from the two men. The pair then blocks him, and the confrontation becomes violent.
“They kicked really hard, really hard,” son-in-law Maneet Singh Virk said.
The man in the black hoodie kicks Natt to the ground. He gets back up, but the man kicks him again. Natt tries to fight back but he is kicked again.
Investigators with the Manteca Police Department believe one of the suspects had a gun.
The video shows the pair start to walk away as Natt is still on the ground, but the man in the black hoodie returns to kick him a few more times and spit on him.
“Just to hit him and spit on him,” Sahi said. “That was disgusting.”
Since Natt is unable to explain exactly what his attackers said, investigators are calling this an attempted robbery and not a hate crime.
“There are no indications that this assault was a hate crime,” a statement from police read.
Police said one of the attackers was an African-American man in his 20s, 5 feet 10 inches tall, “skinny” and clean shaven. He was wearing a green button-up shirt and jeans, police said. The other man was of an unknown race, 5 feet 6 inches tall and 140 pounds, also clean shaven, and with black hair. He wore a white shirt and jeans.
They fled in a dark-colored car, though no make, model or further description was provided by police.
Neighbors, disheartened by the attack, have posted flyers around the park.
“Just pains us and I felt like he needs to know, you know, and the family needs to know this is not our neighborhood, how this is,” neighbor Michele Lazaro said.
Natt’s family is grateful for the support and happy he is alive. They are especially appreciative of the man later seen walking his dog, who helps Natt to his feet and get home safely.