Fitchburg man accused of hate crimes
A Fitchburg man was arrested and accused of hate crimes Tuesday after allegedly attacking a black man with insults, paint thinner, a spray bottle and a sharp piece of metal.
Terrence Dobson, 44, was tentatively charged with reckless endangering safety (first-degree hate crime), substantial battery (hate crime), disorderly conduct (hate crime) and resisting arrest, after being arrested at his Fitchburg home Tuesday night.
According to police:
The incident happened Tuesday afternoon in the 4200 block of Lien Road.
The victim, a 48-year-old man from Sun Prairie, and Dobson both were working for a temporary employment agency, doing work on the loading docks of a company.
According to police reports, Dobson started making racial insults directed at both the victim and others of color working at the site, including "go back to Chicago where you're from" and use of the "n" word.
Dobson then allegedly sprayed paint thinner at two of the workers and threw the bottle at the primary victim, hitting him in the face. The attack escalated when Dobson allegedly picked up a sharp piece of metal and started swinging it at the face of the victim, with the victim blocking the swings with his hand, suffering a puncture wound to the hand in the process.
The attack ended when other employees stepped in to stop it, police said.
Dobson, however, apparently had more to say.
"During his arrest he struggled with officers and threatened to do harm to black and Mexican people," said police spokesman Joel DeSpain. "He was shouting about how 'they' take the jobs."
