A Los Angeles man has been charged in a string of attacks last year against a transgender shopkeeper near MacArthur Park, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced Thursday.
Paul Alan Thompson, 23, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to 11 felony counts, including one count each of attempted murder, assault with a firearm, assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury, assault with caustic chemicals, use of tear gas, first-degree residential burglary with a person present and second-degree robbery, along with two counts each of assault with a deadly weapon and making criminal threats.
The charges include hate crime allegations.
Thompson is accused of a series of crimes between April 8, 2025, and May 31, 2025, in which he allegedly assaulted the shopkeeper multiple times at her business, threatened the victim’s life because she is transgender and stole money from her, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
“Violence fueled by hate strikes at the very core of our community and will not be tolerated,” District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement announcing the charges. “This defendant allegedly targeted the victim because she is transgender, repeatedly terrorizing and assaulting her in her own business.”
The defendant was arrested Monday by Los Angeles police and has remained behind bars since then, jail records show.
He is due back in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom March 10. A date is scheduled to be set then for a hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence to allow the case against him to move forward to trial.
Thompson could face a maximum of life in state prison if convicted as charged, according to the District Attorney’s Office.