A Stanton man with prior strike convictions for assault with a deadly weapon and burglary has pleaded guilty to a hate crime attack in Westminster and was immediately sentenced to a year in jail.

Christopher Robargae, 34, attacked the victim June 30 at a park in Westminster while the man was playing basketball with his cousins, prosecutors said. Robargae used a slur for Black people and then attempted to punch the victim, prosecutors said. The exact slur wasn’t disclosed.

As the man and his cousins left the basketball court and were trying to drive away, Robargae smashed the driver’s window with a hatchet, prosecutors said.

Robargae pleaded guilty Wednesday to a single felony count of a violation of civil rights with violent injury. As part of the plea deal, a felony count of assault with a deadly weapon and a misdemeanor count of vandalism were dismissed along with a hate crime sentencing enhancement.

Robargae, who has been in custody since June 30, was also placed on two years of probation.

When prosecutors filed charges they said Robargae could have faced up to 38 years to life in prison if convicted at trial, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

CNS-01-20-2021 19:42

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