A Washington state woman was charged with a hate crime after allegedly trying to pin an assault on a Black and Hispanic teenager she reportedly shouted racial slurs and insults at.
Jennifer Vincent faces a malicious harassment charge with a hate crime designation, fourth-degree assault, and resisting arrest for the Oct. 25 incident.
Vincent, who is white, called police to Pioneer Park in Puyallup, Washington, that day to report that she had been assaulted by a 14-year-old boy, according to court documents obtained by KING5News.
When responding officers arrived at the park, multiple witnesses told them that Vincent was the aggressor.
Several people told police that Vincent was “shouting racial and derogatory statements” to the teen and to “other Hispanic people.”
The teenager who was the subject of Vincent’s 911 call told officers that Vincent approached a family celebrating their daughter’s quinceañera at the park and “told them to go back to their country,” according to court documents.
Vincent then allegedly walked over to the teen and a group he was with and repeated those same statements. She reportedly “told him to go back to where he came from and he’s not allowed in this country,” and then shoved him. The teen pushed her back in response, court documents say.
Witness statements added up with the teen’s version of events and others also told officers that Vincent called the teen a “beaner” and the N-word, according to Fox 13 Seattle.
Court records described Vincent as uncooperative in her interactions with responding officers. After they arrived, she was screaming, refused to answer questions, and repeatedly asked for medical attention despite walking around normally and appearing uninjured, court filings state.
One officer suspected she was suffering a mental health crisis and called a crisis responder to the scene, who noted that Vincent has a history of post-traumatic stress disorder.
When police decided they had grounds to arrest Vincent, court documents state that she resisted multiple officers and accused one cop of attempting to hurt her. She’s also accused of trying to pinch one officer’s leg.
Vincent was taken to a hospital before being booked into a county jail. At her hospital visit, doctors determined she had a “bruised back internally — part of that would be what (she) was complaining of earlier when she said she had pre-existing injuries and part of it was because she needed to be controlled by officers during her almost one minute of resisting and struggling with police,” according to charging documents.
She made her first court appearance on Monday where a judge set her bail at $10,000 and issued a no-contact order with any witnesses or the alleged victim.
She is set to return to court on Nov. 25.
