Man Suspected of Hate Crime Arrested

HUNTINGTON BEACH —  In what police are calling a hate crime, a 21-year-old man was arrested Sunday on suspicion of bludgeoning a gay man with a glass vase and stealing his property.

Michael Reign Caywood of Huntington Beach was booked into the Huntington Beach City Jail shortly after the 5:30 a.m. assault that left a 31-year-old man with head, facial and chest injuries, Lt. Luis Ochoa said.

The victim called a public telephone outside his home for an unknown reason early Sunday and a man who happened to be nearby “just randomly answered it,” Ochoa said. The pair talked briefly and the caller invited the other man up to his home on Town Square Lane, police said.

After entering the home, the visitor took a glass vase and struck the victim several times, police said.

“Apparently [the vase] broke as he continued to hit the victim, and cut him also,” Ochoa said. “After he did this, he grabbed the stereo equipment--a CD player and some CDs--and fled the residence.”

The victim called 911, and about half a dozen police officers searched the area. They located Caywood nearby and arrested him on suspicion of assault and residential robbery in connection to a hate crime.

Police said Caywood sported tattoos indicating he is part of a white supremacist group.

The victim was taken to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, where he was reported in stable condition.

He requested that his name not be publicized to prevent retaliation or further hate crimes, police said.