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80-Year-Old Man Arrested on Hate Crime Charges After Unleashing Racist Tirade Over Parking Spot in Santa Monica
Police are investigating the incident as a hate crime after an 80-year-old man allegedly battered and unloaded a rant laden with racial slurs on a black woman in a college parking lot in Santa Monica.
The incident began as a physical altercation outside The Broad Stage on 11th Street, part of the Santa Monica College campus, around 6:35 p.m. on Tuesday, Johnnie Adams, chief of the Santa Monica College Police Department, said in a statement.
College student Enrique Conde was on his way to music class when he witnessed what he described as a "deeply sad moment" and began recording it on his cellphone.
Conde said the man became angry because the woman, who is also a student, had parked over the line of her stall. As she was in the process of correcting it, he began lashing out at her.
In the video, the man, who police have identified as Los Angeles resident Fredric Allan Shinerock, can be heard repeatedly using racial slurs against the woman, telling her, "You don't belong here," and that she should "go back to South L.A." (Note: The entire video, which includes highly offensive language, can be seen on Conde's Twitter page.)
"Right away, here are these racial slurs and expletives being shouted," Conde said.
The verbal altercation soon escalated into physical violence, and Shinerock was eventually arrested on suspicion of battery on a school property, a misdemeanor, Chief Adams said.
He was cited and released at the scene, but the Santa Monica City Attorney's Office will review the case as a hate crime incidence and determine what action to take, according to Adams.
The woman was evaluated by paramedics at scene but not transported for treatment.
Shinerock told KTLA he was at The Broad Stage to attend an opera performance but declined to comment further on the case.
While the theater is hosting such events, parking must be shared between students attending classes and the center and performance attendees — and there are often not enough spaces, Conde said.
"If someone is not parked very well, then that's one parking spot lost," he said. "That's how I believe it started."
Police are continuing to investigate the incident and ask witnesses to come forward. Anyone with information can contact the Santa Monica College police at 310-434-4300, referencing case number 18-216.