San Gabriel Valley : Pasadena Police Offer Reward in String of Hate Crimes

Pasadena police announced Thursday a $2,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for hate crimes in the city after an African American woman’s front door was painted with a swastika. The incident Tuesday--the city’s 17th hate crime this year--came just days after a similar crime and a citywide conference on bigotry.

“We’re seeing an increase in hate crimes in Pasadena,” said Cmdr. Gary Bennett, at a meeting with top city officials to announce the reward. “The incidents appear to single people out who are the singular minority in the neighborhood.”

In the latest incident, the woman lives in a racially diverse part of town but is the only African American in her apartment complex, he said.

The woman was leaving for work Tuesday morning when she discovered a white reverse swastika painted on the front door of her apartment in the 600 block of South Marengo Avenue, authorities said. The crime may have been done Monday, the day of the Million Man March by African American men in the nation’s capital, Bennett said.

“These cowards are growing in numbers,” said Mayor William Paparian, referring to the vandals. He organized the conference on confronting bigotry and hate crimes and visited the victim Wednesday.

Last week, a racial epithet and a dead skunk were left outside the newly purchased house of an African American woman who had not yet moved in. Earlier this year, a cross was burned on the lawn of a rabbi, and a rattlesnake was left on the drive of an African American, authorities said. All the incidents remain unsolved.