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Brooke Walker ReportingA weekend attack sends one person to the hospital and another to jail. Police say the victim may have been targeted because he resembled a Mormon missionary.
Sunday afternoon, two employees of a Radio Shack store walked outside to take a break. They were wearing their work uniform--black pants, white collar shirt and a Radio Shack name tag. That, police say, may have been the motivation behind what happened next.
Chris Palomarez was attacked and he believes what he was wearing had everything to do with it. Around 3:00, a car pulled up and those inside started yelling obscenities at the two men, calling them Mormons and telling them to go back to church. Palomarez yelled back at the car. That's when the vehicle turned around and someone jumped out.
The suspect charged straight at Palomarez and, using brass knuckles, hit him in the head. Before he could get out of the way, the car slammed into him, carrying him about 20 feet.
He received seven stitches above his right eye, but other than that is okay. Palomarez is not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and cannot believe someone would react so violently.
Police charged 21-year old Joseph Patrick Romero with aggravated assault. Police initially investigated this as a hate crime, but prosecutors did not file it as such because in third district court, a judge determined that statute unconstitutional. However, a new legislative bill is in the works. If passed, it would re-define the law and increase the penalty for hate crimes.
Rep. David Litvack: "When I heard about his incident, I felt that reaction in my gut. I felt that pit. And that was felt in a good portion of the LDS community, and that's what we have to hold the offenders accountable to."
In previous years it has not passed, but this year, sponsors have broadened the bill. They say situations like this one only emphasize the need for a change.
