Immigrant claims racial slur in Pasadena
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Immigrant claims racial slur in Pasadena
06:48 AM CDT on Thursday, August 17, 2006
By Vicente Arenas / 11 News
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Two Hispanic men called police to investigate allegations of harrassment, but that is a mere afterthought as the officers become the focus of a new investigation.
An immigrant who said he was a victim of a racial slur said police did nothing to help him.
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Possible racial slur in Pasadena?
The man said he went to an auto parts store in Pasadena and walked in to exchange a fuel pump and things went downhill from there.
He said he walked up to the counter and asked to exchange the part, but was told that they would not exchange it because the customer had broken the part while it was in the store.
The man, who registered a complaint, said that at that point, a racial slur was yelled at him.
He wanted to talk to police, so he went into the parking lot. When police came by, they didn’t identify themselves, so the men wrote the squad number down.
The man contacted LULAC, which subsequently helped him file a complaint with the Pasadena Police Department.
“What makes it so terrible is the fact that for that split second, these individuals felt that the people who are there to protect and to serve them, weren’t doing their job,” said a police spokesperson, “What we’re trying to do is let them know that we do care and there is a process they can follow to make sure that these types of things don’t happen again.
Pasadena officials said its officers are required to identify themselves under certain circumstances.
LULAC said while the police are usually helpful, the group isn't sure what happened this time.
A department spokesman said they will identify the officers and release their names once the investigation is over. Any possible discipline will depend on the officer's history.