Hate crime suspect arrested for ramming neighbor with vehicle
FREMONT >> A man was arrested on suspicion of repeatedly ramming his neighbor with a vehicle and seriously injuring him, an investigation that led to the suspect confessing to punching a woman in the face several months ago, police said.
The man, 45-year-old
Fremont resident Aqweel Khan, was charged with premeditated attempted murder and two counts of assault. The earlier attack also carries a hate crime enhancement.
Khan is accused of striking his neighbor with a vehicle on Dec. 6 in the parking lot of their apartment complex on the 41000 block of Fremont Boulevard.
Police say Khan pinned the victim to another car before reversing and ramming into him five more times. He then fled the scene.
The victim, who suffered serious but not-life-threatening injuries, told police that the two were in an ongoing dispute and that Khan had tried to run him over with a vehicle before.
Investigators noticed that Khan’s appearance was similar to a police sketch taken from an Aug. 26 assault of a woman at Central Park in Fremont.
During that attack, Khan allegedly told the victim, “You’re not supposed to talk to your brother like that” in English and Hindi before punching her in the face and throwing her phone into nearby Lake Elizabeth.
Police had since been investigating the incident as a felony battery and possible hate crime.
After reviewing surveillance video of the Dec. 6 attack, police traced Khan’s vehicle to Roseville, where it was towed and investigated for evidence by the city’s police department.
Later, on information about Khan’s potential location, Sacramento police found and arrested him in Mather, a community in Tuolumne County.
Khan was taken back to Fremont, where he was interviewed and confessed to the Aug. 26 assault at Central Park, police said.
Fremont authorities could not be reached to clarify the nature of the hate crime penalty that Khan is charged with. He is being held without bail at the Santa Rita jail.
The Central Park assault is the sixth incident this year that Fremont police are investigating as a hate crime.