Man charged with hate-motivated assault of woman wearing hijab in South Burlington
By Sophia Venturo
Click here for updates on this story
SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. (WPTZ) — A Burlington man is facing multiple charges after police said he assaulted a woman wearing a hijab and made derogatory comments to her on Market Street in South Burlington.
The South Burlington Police Department said officers responded just before noon Tuesday after receiving a report of an assault. The caller told police the incident may have been motivated by racial bias.
Investigators said a witness provided video of the incident, and officers obtained additional surveillance footage from a nearby business that helped identify the suspect. Officers later located 52-year-old Jonathan Strippe of Burlington nearby.
Police said Strippe assaulted the victim, damaged her cellphone and made several derogatory statements about her perceived race, religion and country of origin. The victim was wearing a traditional hijab at the time of the alleged assault.
Strippe was arrested and processed on charges of simple assault, unlawful mischief and hate-motivated crimes. He was cited to appear in Chittenden Superior Court on July 30 and released.
Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.