Alleged Hate Crime In Newport Being Investigated

Newport Beach police are investigating an alleged hate crime after a Muslim taxi driver said he was pushed and punched at a peninsula cigar shop, a department spokesman said.

No arrests have been made, Sgt. Steve Burdette said, but a detective is talking to people who saw the alleged attack outside the La Habana Cigar Co. The local office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations has asked that the U.S. Department of Justice join in the investigation.

The taxi driver, who was born in Palestine, went to the cigar shop March 19 to pick up a passenger and was confronted by a man who said he was the shop's owner, CAIR spokeswoman Munira Syeda said. According to CAIR, the man told the driver, "I am a Marine officer, (expletive) you."

When a woman emerged from the shop saying she had called for the cab, two other men also came out and pushed the driver while asking him what his religion was, according to CAIR.

They told the driver, "We're going to (expletive) you like we (expletive) your country," CAIR said.

One of the men put the driver in a headlock as he got into his cab while calling 911, according to CAIR. The men then punched the driver, CAIR said.

A man who answered the phone at the cigar shop asked a reporter to call back later, and a subsequent message was not immediately returned.

The driver was treated for injuries and has been too frightened to return to work, according to CAIR.

— City News Service contributed to this report