Suspect sketch released in possible Stanford hate crime

The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release that the student described the suspect as an unshaven, white, 20-something man who wears prescription glasses.

At the time of the crash, the suspect was behind the wheel of a black Toyota SUV that is likely to “have front passenger side bumper damage from the collision,” according to witness reports, the sheriff’s office said. The release included a stock photo of the type of car the suspect may have been driving.

The Nov. 3 hit-and-run is under investigation by the sheriff’s office as a hate crime; the California Highway Patrol conducted the preliminary investigation.

The suspect was driving on the Stanford campus when he struck the student who was crossing the intersection of Campus Drive and Ayrshire Farm Lane, the sheriff’s office said. Looking the student in the eye, the driver sped up before hitting the student and shouted “F—k you and your people” out the car’s open window while taking off from the scene, a statement from Stanford said. The student told officials that he believed he was targeted due to his T-shirt with “Damascus” written in Arabic across it, according to the news release. The student was taken to Stanford Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries. 

The sheriff’s office said it believes people were walking near the scene of the collision and may have witnessed it. It’s calling on all witnesses or anyone with information about the hit-and-run to call the office at 408-808-4500. An anonymous tip line is also available at 408-808-4431.

“Stanford is continuing to work to provide a safe and secure campus environment in the context of heightened tensions related to the events in Israel and Gaza,” Stanford said in a community alert issued on Nov. 4. “This includes additional security that has been deployed at key locations on campus.” 

The university’s president, Richard Saller, and its provost, Jenny Martinez, issued a statement with the Stanford community on Nov. 3, saying they were “profoundly disturbed to hear this report of potentially hate-based physical violence on our campus.” They said that they understood the “fear that this incident has caused” and the university was “working with law enforcement to provide for the safety and security of everyone in our campus community.”

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 11:40 a.m., Nov. 10, to remove incorrect information about the possible hate crime and clarify information on the investigation.