Man sought by police after hate-motivated assault in southwest Calgary

Police are looking for a man allegedly involved in a hate-motivated crime in southwest Calgary on Friday.

According to a Saturday release, a woman was crossing the parking lot of Southwood Centre at 10233 Elbow Drive S.W. at 1:15 p.m. when someone honked at her from a parked vehicle. A man emerged from the vehicle and allegedly rushed toward the victim and aggressively gestured at her.

Police added he made punching motions in front of the woman’s face and verbally threatened that he would kill her because of her religion.

The woman continued walking to her vehicle, drove home and then reported the incident to police.

Police describe the suspect as around 60-years-old with a heavy build and bald head. He was wearing a brown sunglasses, a checkered blue shirt and black shoes at the time of the incident.

Hate-motivated crimes are crimes where the offender was motivated by bias, prejudice or hate that is based on personal characteristics of the victim.

Those with information about the incident are asked to call police at 403-266-1234 or Crime Stoppers.