The Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price announced new charges in a year-old case Tuesday.
A Fremont man suspected of trying to kill his neighbor by running him over with his car six times, is facing an additional charge of a hate crime.
Surveillance video from December 2021 shows the gruesome attack. Police say 45-year-old Cory Brown, a Black man, was run over six times by his neighbor at the Laguna Commons Apartments on Fremont Boulevard.
Another neighbor, and Brown's friend, remembers rushing to help during the traumatic incident.
“I went down in the parking lot and the man in the white car proceeded to run him over again and I said, ‘stop, you're going to kill him!’ And that's when he took off out of the parking lot,” said Theresa.
Now, 15 months later, the suspect, 45-year-old Aqweel Khan, is being charged with a hate crime.
“We are here to right a great wrong,” said Price.
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Khan has been serving time and is currently being held at the Alameda County Santa Rita Jail l on charges of attempted homicide and assault with a deadly weapon after running over his neighbor six times.
“Fremont police were very adamant that we look at this case and ensure it was properly charged,” said Price.
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That second look revealed that Khan had also vandalized Brown's car with racial slurs, made racist threats, and had previously attempted physical assault.
“There was clear evidence of racial animus by Mr. Kahn targeted towards Mr. Brown,” said Price.
This is the second time Kahn has been charged with an assault and hate crime. In August 2021 at Fremont's Central Park, Khan is suspected of beating a woman of Indian descent for speaking Hindi, then punching her in the face until she lost consciousness, before throwing her phone into Lake Elizabeth.
Both the woman, and Brown, are still recovering, still have physical injuries, and Brown considers himself lucky to be alive, the DA said.
“Thank God he's OK, it was very traumatic for me to watch that,” said Theresa.
Brown declined to speak with NBC Bay Area about the attack. The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office said he has a civil matter pending, and his ability to speak is somewhat limited.
