KEY POINTS

  • The incident happened at a gas station in Oakland, California
  • The suspect told the gas station owner to "go back to China"
  • The incident remains under investigation

A man was arrested on assault charges Friday for allegedly pepper-spraying an Asian American gas station owner and yelling racial slurs at him in Oakland, California.

The victim opened up about the racially charged confrontation to KABC-TV, recalling that he was asked to "go back to China" during the altercation.

Surveillance footage from the gas station obtained by the outlet showed the suspect, wearing a gray hooded jacket, appearing to spray a substance in the gas station owner's face before hurling racial slurs at him.

The gas station owner, who asked to be identified only as Cwell, said the suspect arrived at 11 a.m. Thursday and got into an argument with the cashier because he intended to pay for his gas entirely in coins.

"My staff, she's like, 'well, wait, hold on there. You kind of have to take this to the bank because I can't fit this all in the till," the cashier told the suspect, Cwell told KABC-TV.

Cwell said he had intervened to diffuse the situation. However, the man started making offensive remarks to him. "He just started mouthing off... 'You should go back to China,' like that. We were just bursting out laughing because it was so unbelievable," he added.

Cwell said the situation soon spiraled out of control. The unidentified suspect continued his racist tirade as Cwell recorded him. Cwell said the suspect then left the gas station and he followed him to record his license plate. The man then attacked Cwell with pepper-spray, yelling racist statements such as, "Go to China" and "You're not from here, you're Asian," reported KABC-TV.

"The guy had pulled out his pepper spray and he had shot my face, arms. I ended up going to the ER to get taken care of," said Cwell.

The video shows the suspect looking at the camera and yelling "...go to China! F**k you man! You have a small d**k!"

Cwell said what happened next was terrifying. "He ends up reversing his car at me. I took it as an assault," he said.

The case was presented at the Alameda County District Attorney for review. An investigation into the incident was ongoing, according to ABC News.

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The suspects were charged with kidnapping, causing bodily harm and humiliation. pixabay
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