Police Suspect Hate Crime in Man’s Stabbing

In an apparent hate crime, a black man was stabbed near the Ventura Pier late Monday by a group of white men and women who warned him “he didn’t belong in their neighborhood,” Ventura police reported.

The man, whom police did not identify, was in surgery at Ventura County Medical Center after the stabbing that occurred about 9 p.m. The stab wound to his abdomen did not appear to be life-threatening, said Sgt. Randy Janes.

He said one suspect was detained, and police were searching for the others who fled the scene.

The man, in his late 20s, was on the swing set next to the pier with a woman when two men and three women approached, police said. After one man pulled a knife, the victim ran up the hill toward Harbor Boulevard. The group chased him, and he was stabbed. He eventually reached Harbor Boulevard and flagged down a passing motorist, Janes said.