DAVIS, Calif. — Bail has been raised nearly sevenfold to $520,000 for a teenager facing hate crime allegations in the brutal beating of a Northern California man.
Last week, prosecutors detailed the injuries, including a fractured skull, suffered by Lawrence “Mikey” Partida in the early hours of March 10 in Davis, Calif.
Clayton Daniel Garzon, 19, is accused of using anti-gay slurs during the alleged attack. Garzon appeared in Yolo Superior Court on felony battery and threat charges with hate crime enhancements.
Prosecutors argued Garzon is a danger to the community and a risk to flee.
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Garzon had been a free man after posting his original $75,000 bail while Partida laid in the hospital with multiple fractures, reported KOVR-TV.
“The only reason he’s not dead is because we’re blessed, and my nephew got lucky. Otherwise, that was the intent,” said Frances Swanson, Partida’s aunt.
In an interview from his hospital room last month, Partida told local media that he was leaving a relative’s home in the early morning hours of March 10 when a man started harassing him and calling him a “faggot.” Partida said he ignored the man and kept walking.
“I was just trying to make the right choice in a bad situation,” he said.
“It was unprovoked,” Partida said. “He just continued, getting closer and closer, and then he just punched me.”
Partida, 32, said he heard the attacker using the slur – faggot – over and over again while beating him. “Pretty loud and proud about it,” Partida said. “He just kept fighting me and fighting me until I blacked out. And then I came to and was here.”
Statements obtained from witnesses indicate the motive for the attack “may have at least partially stemmed from the victim’s actual or perceived sexual orientation,” according to a police statement.
A preliminary hearing in the case is set for April 26.
