YORK CO., Va - The Sheriff's Office is investigating a racial slur that was painted on the passenger side of an African American airman's car.
According to Lieutenant Dennis Ivey Jr., air police based out of Langley Air Force Base police responded to the victim's home on the 20 block of Atlantis Lane, on November 30, to inform the resident about the slur. He was asleep at the time.
Deputies say the victim, who is a member of the United States Air Force, then filed a report with the sheriff's office.
"This is a very appalling situation," says Lieutenant Ivey. "It's gotta be just gut-wrenching, it scares you first of all, and then it's just hurtful, it's hateful, I am very offended that someone would do this."
Ivey says the painted phrase said "f*** n******." They also wrote "KKK."
The Sheriff's Office is calling it a hate crime.
The airman did not want to talk on camera or be identified, but he tells News 3 that the situation was shocking and saddening.
He says he has no known enemies or any idea as to why someone would do this.
"The only thing I can imagine is someone is picking on him because of his race and it's offensive, it's criminal, it's a hate crime and we want to catch them," say Lieutenant Ivey.
The Sheriff's Office believes the crime happened some time during the night of November 29 or early-morning hours of November 30 between 8:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP.
