Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer asks for the public’s help to find alleged attackers on a Sikh man last December. Other law enforcement officials and Sikh leaders look on.
Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer asks for the public’s help to find alleged attackers on a Sikh man last December. Other law enforcement officials and Sikh leaders look on.
FRESNO, Calif. (Diya TV) — A Fresno man and a teenager pleaded not guilty Friday to felony assault charges and allegations of hate-crimes in connection with the brutal beating and running over of a 69-year-old Sikh man last December.
Alexis Mendoza, 17, of Fresno, is facing the more serious charges of the two. Police contend Mendoza was driving the car which ran over Amrik Singh Bal, who survived the Dec. 26 attack west of Highway 99. Mendoza pleaded not guilty to charges of assault likely to cause great bodily injury and assault with a deadly weapon, a vehicle, a denied the hate-crime allegation.
If convicted, Mendoza faces up to 13 years in prison.
Daniel Coronel Wilson, 22, pleaded not guilty to a charge of assault likely to produce great bodily injury, and also denied the hate-crime allegation. He faces up to eight years in prison if convicted of the charges.
Fresno County Superior Court Judge Brian Alvarez ordered Mendoza to be held at county juvenile justice center on $115,000 bond. He turns 18 on May 15, and is being tried as an adult because of the seriousness of the charges. Wilson is being held at the county jail on $35,000 bond.
Court records also indicate that Wilson had a previous conviction for possession of marijuana. Because juvenile records are sealed, it remains unknown whether Mendoza has a past criminal history.
Amrik Singh Bal, the 68-year-old Sikh man attacked by two men in Fresno last December.
At a press conference on Tuesday, police chief Jerry Dyer said the evidence indicates that both Mendoza and Wilson targeted Bal solely because of his traditional Sikh clothing and his turban. “I have no doubt in my mind that they intentionally struck him,” Dyer said.
According to Fresno Police, who were assisted by the FBI in their investigation of the alleged acts, Bal was standing outside around 6:30 a.m. on Dec. 26 waiting for a ride to work, when a black Dodge Challenger stopped beside him in the cold fog. The 17-year-old driver veered into Bal, police said, knocking him into the air and slamming him onto the pavement.
The private security camera of a nearby home captured the attack on video, police said.
Dyer said Bal remained unconscious laying on the pavement for about six minutes until friends arrived and rushed him to the hospital with serious injuries. He has since recovered.
