| For Immediate Release May 30th, 2002 |
Contact: | Tori Richards (714) 347-8405 |
Former Marine Charged with Committing Hate Crime in Days Following 9/11
SANTA ANA — A former Marine from Huntington Beach who threatened to kill an elderly Iranian couple on Sept. 23, 2001, was charged today with hate crime violations.
Steven James McManus (DOB 10-11-57), a Caucasian who is 6-feet 5-inches tall, made the threat less than two weeks after the Twin Towers’ explosion as the couple was out for a morning walk in Huntington Beach.
McManus drove past the victims, aged 77 and 74, and then made an abrupt U-turn. He parked his car and approached the victims, ordering them to cross the street or he would kill them. The couple was walking along Bushard Street, which is a busy thoroughfare to Pacific Coast Highway. No crosswalk or traffic signal exists at the Bushard intersection of Mokihana Street, where the crime occurred.
As the couple started to walk across the street, one of their neighbors drove by and helped them into her car. The victims feared for their lives.
Another neighbor who saw the event called 911 and directed police to McManus’ home on Mokihana Street. Officers arrived at the home at 3:45 p.m. to interview McManus. He was eventually taken into custody and released. He has been charged with two felony counts of making a criminal threat with hate enhancements, two misdemeanor civil rights violations, two misdemeanor counts of elder abuse and one misdemeanor count of obstructing a police officer. If convicted on all counts, he faces a maximum of eight years in prison. McManus has agreed to surrender himself to the court for arraignment on June 7.