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COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS — Police are asking for the public's help in finding a man who they say used racial and homophobic slurs inside an Asian-owned business in Cottonwood Heights.
About noon Wednesday, a man went into Ace Alterations, 6927 S. 1300 East, to inquire about getting a button fixed on a piece of clothing.
When the owner, an Asian woman, told the man that the button did not need to be repaired, the man became extremely angry and started yelling racial and homophobic slurs, said Cottonwood Heights Police Sgt. JD Tazoi. The man then made verbal threats against a customer, a white man, who tried to help the store owner, and then threatened to slash the tires of both the business owner and the customer.
The man eventually left the store, got into a black sedan and drove away. No one was injured and nothing in the store or parking lot was damaged, Tazoi said. The owner said it was the first time the man had been in her store.
The Cottonwood Heights Police Department's Twitter page called the incident a "possible hate crime," and asked for anyone with information about the man to call them at 801-944-7100.
The man was described as 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighing 180 pounds, in his late 40s with waist-length gray hair and a goatee. He was last seen wearing a green T-shirt and possibly cargo shorts.
