Attack on flight attendant investigated as hate crime

Phoenix police are investigating an alleged assault of a flight attendant on an airport tram platform as a hate crime.

Authorities say the incident happened about 2:15 a.m. Friday at the PHX Sky Train station that links Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport to a light rail stop and a long-term parking lot.

The flight attendant had just gotten off a flight and was heading to her car when the attack occurred, police said.

According to police, Brandon Smith, 32, kicked the woman from behind and punched her in the face knocking her to the ground. Smith continued to kick and punch the woman as she was on the ground, according to arrest documents.

He threw a metal sign at the woman when she began to fight back. The sign struck her, court documents state. Smith also threw a hand sanitizer dispenser and told her to “Go back to your own f--king country,” arrest documents state.

A second woman attempted to assist the other woman and blocked the door to the Sky Train, while Smith threatened her and advanced in her direction, according to court documents.

Smith said he assaulted the two women because they were stealing his identity and money.

However, Detective Charlee McDermott with the Bias Crimes Unit at the Phoenix Police Department stated in the probable cause statement that the attack on the first woman “was completely unprovoked and totally caught both women off-guard.”

The case was forwarded to the Bias Crimes unit for further investigation, according to the Phoenix Police Department spokesperson Sgt. Andy Williams.

A “bias crime” is defined as a “criminal offense committed against a person or property which is motivated in whole or in part by the offender’s bias against a race, color, religion, sex/gender, national origin, sexual orientation, or disability group,” Williams said.

Smith was booked into a Maricopa County jail and was charged with one count of assault and one count of aggravated assault.

A preliminary hearing was set for April 4.