An incident that unfolded outside a Vancouver fast-food restaurant Tuesday is being investigated as a “possible hate crime,” according to police. The Vancouver Police Department said the incident began when security guards approached a man panhandling outside the restaurant—located near Main Street and 2nd Avenue—at around 9 a.m. and asked him to leave. “During the interaction, the man allegedly threw a cup, pushed a security guard, and yelled racist comments about the security guard’s ethnicity and religion,” the department said in a news release Wednesday. “The suspect then allegedly struck the security guard and removed the security guard’s turban before leaving the area.” Authorities believe the same suspect robbed another person down the street shortly after. After the victim handed over some money, the suspect allegedly “struck the victim in the head and demanded more,” police said. Officers tracked a suspect to a nearby home and arrested him without incident, the department said. The suspect has not been charged, but police said they plan to recommend charges of assault and robbery against him.
