Man charged with hate crime in assault

CLEVELAND — A suspected gang member was arrested this week in connection with an August incident in which he is accused of punching a 51-yearold woman in what police called a hate crime.

Jermaine Hines Jr., 24, was arrested early Thursday morning. Police have not released information regarding the circumstances surrounding his arrest. He will be held in the Cleveland City Jail until his first court appearance on Friday.

Hines is charged with ethnic intimidation, a fifth-degree felony.

According to court records, Hines, who is black, attacked the woman "simply because she was white."

The woman does not know Hines, who a detective said in court records is affiliated with an unnamed street gang.

The woman "is in constant fear because (Hines) has been seen walking around her neighborhood, and she fears he will attack her or some other person simply because of the color of their skin," court records say.

The attack happened about 5:45 p.m. Aug. 21 in the 2900 block of Archwood Avenue in the city's Brooklyn Centre neighborhood.

Hines walked up to the woman without saying anything and punched her, knocking her to the ground, police said.

Hines then yelled at the woman and accused her of being in the Ku Klux Klan. He also said she was a "white supremacist," according to police. The woman told police she had no affiliation to the KKK or any white supremacist group.

The woman walked to her home, called police and told her 21-year-old son what had happened, police said. The two then walked back, found Hines and took a cellphone photo of him.

Hines saw the son take the photo, knocked the phone from his hand and cracked the screen, police reports say. He then also accused the man of being involved in the KKK.