Woman charged with hate crime after allegedly spitting on man of Asian descent

MOUNTAIN VIEW >> A Marin County woman has been formally charged with a misdemeanor hate crime after she allegedly spat on an Asian man while yelling racial slurs at him as he dined on a downtown street last month, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.

Karen Marie Inman, 39, of Greenbrae was arrested Friday and scheduled for arraignment Monday. She was booked into the Elmwood women’s jail in Milpitas on $60,000 bail.

The crime was reported Feb. 13 near Castro and Villa streets, with the victim being identified as a 36-year-old man of Asian descent. According to Mountain View police, Inman walked up to the man and, unprovoked, spat on him and yelled a slur at him, and at one point told him to go back to “where you came from.”

The victim, who was dining outside, and his companion actually declined to press charges after another diner had called police. The police department cited a hatecrime policy in deciding to continue an investigation, and submitted a case to the district attorney’s office.

Police also alleged that Inman, described by authorities as unhoused, had earlier that day stole food and clothing from a nearby market and told the owners that she didn’t have to pay them because they were Asian. That allegation was not the subject of any charges announced by prosecutors Monday.

The hate-crime case occurs amid heightened tension and concerns about anti-Asian sentiment and acts during the coronavirus pandemic, stemming from debunked rhetoric tying people of Asian descent to the outbreak of the disease.

“It is ignorant. It is wrong. And when it is criminal — those who are charged will face the full power of my Office to hold them accountable,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement accompanying the charging announcement for Inman.