Man, 65, accused of hate crime, assault with knife

A Costa Mesa man could face felony assault and hate crime charges after he allegedly threatened a group of people outside a shopping center with a knife and taunted them with racial slurs, police said Wednesday.

Police arrested Ronald Allen Bramlett, 65, of Costa Mesa, about 5:45 p.m. Tuesday on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon and committing a hate crime.

Bramlett walked up to a group of four people outside of the Costa Mesa Courtyards shopping center at 1835 Newport Blvd. Tuesday evening and began arguing with them, said Costa Mesa Police Lt. Bryan Glass.

The argument escalated when Bramlett pulled out a knife and began taunting the victims and using racial slurs, Glass said. At least one of the victims is black, Glass said.

Bramlett is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail at the Orange County Men’s jail. He is to appear in Orange County Superior Court today, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

From court records, it was unclear Wednesday whether Bramlett had been formally charged yet.

— Brianna Bailey