2 charged with hate crimes after black family’s home is hit by Molotov cocktails and racist graffiti
In a crime that shocked a California Delta community, a man and woman were charged with hate crimes Tuesday in connection with launching Molotov cocktails into the home of a black family in Antioch and spray-painting the residence with a swastika and racial slurs, police said.
Roy Charles Sorvari, 27, of Antioch and Christyne Gail McDaniel, 25, of Brentwood face charges of arson and conspiracy to commit murder, mayhem, torture and assault with a deadly weapon, according to the Antioch Police Department. Sorvari and McDaniel were also charged with hate crime enhancements. They have each been ordered held on more than $1 million bail.
The attack “sent shockwaves in the city of Antioch,” Police Chief Allan Cantando said at a news conference Tuesday.
Cantando said the pair were motivated by a dispute between one of McDaniel’s relatives and a resident of the home. Details about the dispute were not released.
“That was the only reason this resident was targeted, and it was not a random incident,” he said.
The attack occurred shortly after 3 a.m. on Sept. 7, when up to three Molotov cocktails where thrown at the home in the 5100 block of McCormick Court, starting a fire and blocking some exits.
Flames spread to the home’s roof and nearby bushes, police said.
A large swastika and racial slur were scrawled in blue spray paint on the front of the home.
Three adults and four children were able to escape the home without injury, KPIX-TV reported. Home surveillance cameras recorded the attack and video evidence was turned over to police.
Homeowner Roshon Williams told KTVU-TV that she didn’t know Sorvari and McDaniel and had never met them before.
On the day after the attack, Antioch Mayor Wade Harper and members of the NAACP East County chapter condemned the attack.
“We will come together as a community,” Harper said in a statement. “We will not be in fear. We will not be victimized.”
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