Father, son face hate crime charges for alleged racist assault in Colfax, sheriff says
Detectives identified and arrested two men accused of a racially motivated assault Saturday in Colfax, authorities announced. The suspects are a father and son.
Roger A. Lillie, 53, and Roger R. Lillie, 25, were arrested Sunday afternoon in Colfax and booked into jail on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy and committing a hate crime, the Placer County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post Monday morning.
The Sheriff’s Office on Sunday shared surveillance video and suspect descriptions from a Saturday afternoon assault on Canyon Way in Colfax.
Two suspects in a silver pickup truck allegedly pulled up in front of a tree-trimming crew, exited their vehicle, approached the foreman of that crew and “began berating him and calling him names.”
One of the suspects then grabbed the victim and held his face against the tree-trimming trailer. Then, “the second suspect struck the back of the victim’s head with a pole saw, injuring him,” the post said. The suspects fled in their pickup truck, heading north on Canyon Way.
The Sheriff’s Office says detectives identified the Lillies as the suspects based on tips received from the public on social media after posting the video.
Both men were booked into the Auburn jail on $80,000 bail.
