Beating sparks talks

An assault has spurred a meeting between the city’s Hispanic and African-American communities in the hope of preventing future attacks.

Fernando Ugars Moreno claims that while he was walking to Waldbaum’s at about 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 14, he was attacked by four African-American teenagers, who jumped on him from behind and kicked him while he was on the ground at East Market Street and Magnolia Boulevard. Moreno suffered a fractured nose, multiple bruises and two cuts on his face that required stitches.

Orlando Ariza, the vice president of the Long Beach Latino Civic Association, who spoke for Moreno, said Moreno told him that he believed it was a hate crime because the teens shouted racial slurs as they kicked him. Moreno is an immigrant from Peru who speaks limited English.

Lawrence Evens, 18, of Long Beach, was arrested and charged with assault. The police did not release the name and age of a juvenile who was also arrested.

“It wasn’t a hate crime, though,” said Lt. Bruce Meyer, a spokesman for the Long Beach Police Department. “No statements were made that would bring it to that classification.”

Evens’s attorney, Leslie Shamis, declined to comment on the incident.

With recent attacks on Hispanics in New York City and Suffolk County making news, Ariza said that after Moreno was attacked, Ariza began speaking to people in the Hispanic community in the city’s North Park section and found that many had similar stories. He said he decided to take action. “I want to stop something that’s going to get worse and worse,” said Ariza, who worked with community activist James Hodge to organize an open meeting at the Long Beach Latino Civic Association on Wednesday, after the Herald went to press, to talk with teenage residents.

“I think if there is discriminative or racial actions taken against another person because of their race, nationality or background, that will always prompt me to get involved,” said Hodge, who acknowledged that he has occasionally witnessed fights between neighborhood kids.