Source: SF Gate

By Jenna Lyons

As a practicing Sikh, Khalsa said his hair is sacred, and when a group of men attacked him in Richmond and slashed his locks with a knife last month, he felt his faith was under attack.

“Without the hair, you’re not a full-fledged Sikh,” he told The Chronicle on Friday. “They would rather die than get their hair cut off. A lot of Sikhs sacrifice their life rather than cut their hair.”

The Sikh Coalition, one of the country’s largest advocates for Sikh civil rights, sent a letter to Richmond Police Chief Allwyn Brown and Contra Costa County District Attorney Mark Peterson on Friday urging officials to consider hate crime charges in the Sept. 25 assault of Khalsa.

Chase Byron Little, 31, and Dustin Michael Albarado, 25, were arrested on suspicion of aggravated battery and assault with a deadly weapon after the incident. A third suspect has not been arrested.

Apart from his hair, Khalsa said he might lose a finger from the knife attack. He also needs three root canals for the damage to his teeth from the blows to his face, he said.

The district attorney’s office received the case Friday and plans on charging the suspects next week, said Deputy District Attorney Simon O’Connell. Both suspects were currently out on bail.

Khalsa, a 41-year-old information technology specialist, told police he was stopped at a red light at Blume and Hilltop drives about 8:45 p.m. when a white, four-door F-150 Ford pickup truck pulled alongside him.

He said one of the men in the truck threw a beer can at his car, prompting Khalsa to get out of his vehicle, pick up the beer can and chuck it back at the men while yelling, “You forgot something.”

As the light changed to green, Khalsa turned right on Hilltop Drive and the truck followed him to the next stoplight at the intersection at the Interstate 80 overpass. When the truck pulled up next to him, he called 911 as he waited at the red light, he said.

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