Maan Singh Khalsa, 41, was attacked by a group of men in Richmond last month. Khalsa said the man cut his hair in the assault, which he keeps unshorn as a part of his Sikh religion.
Maan Singh Khalsa, 41, was attacked by a group of men in Richmond last month. Khalsa said the man cut his hair in the assault, which he keeps unshorn as a part of his Sikh religion.
Photo: The Sikh Coalition / /Maan Singh Khalsa, 46 shows his amputated finger to reporters outside Contra Costa County Superior Court in Martinez after his attackers were sentenced to three years in prison on Thursday.
Maan Singh Khalsa, 46 shows his amputated finger to reporters outside Contra Costa County Superior Court in Martinez after his attackers were sentenced to three years in prison on Thursday.
Photo: Evan Sernoffsky / The Chronicle / /Chase Bryan Little, 31, pleaded no contest to assault with a hate crime enhancement for his attack on a Sikh man living in Richmond. He was sentenced to three years in state prison.
Chase Bryan Little, 31, pleaded no contest to assault with a hate crime enhancement for his attack on a Sikh man living in Richmond. He was sentenced to three years in state prison.
Photo: Richmond Police Department / /Maan Singh Khalsa said he always used to assume the best in others.
But after two Texas men savagely attacked him in Richmond last September - leaving him with one less finger, and severe emotional and physical trauma - the 42-year-old information technology specialist now evaluates any stranger as a possible threat to his safety.
Khalsa made it though one phase of his trauma on Thursday, though, when his attackers admitted to their crimes and were sentenced to three years in state prison each for the hate-crime assault.
“I have suffered from severe depression, anxiety and PTSD since the attack,” Khalsa said in court, reading from a statement before the sentencing of the men who assaulted him. “It is difficult for me to go outside now without having pepper spray with me. Now, when I interact with strangers, I am not as open as I used to be - I am more likely to view others not as my brothers, but as possible threats to my safety.”
The attackers, Colton Leblanc, 24, of Winnie, Texas, and Chase Little, 31, of Beaumont, Texas, each pleaded no contest to one count of assault with force causing great bodily injury in Contra Costa County Superior Court in Martinez. The assault carried with it hate crime enhancements because prosecutors said the men attacked Khalsa because of his religion.
Khalsa, who immigrated to California from India in 2003 and has an 8-year-old daughter, is a Sikh and wears a turban over his hair that he keeps unshorn as part of his religion.
Neither defendant spoke during the hearing as they stood attentively behind a glass partition in their yellow jail clothes.
“I’m satisfied with how this was resolved,” defense attorney Joseph Tully said after the court hearing. “It was in the best interest of everyone involved in this case.”
The assault began on the night of Sept. 25, when five men in a white pickup truck pulled up next to Khalsa at a stoplight at a Blume and Hilltop drives in Richmond, and one of the men inside hurled a half-full beer can at him.
Khalsa got out of his car and told the men, “You forgot something” before throwing the can back at the truck. That apparently set off some of the men inside who began screaming and cursing at him.
Khalsa drove east on Hilltop and called 911, but as he reached another stoplight at the intersection at the Interstate 80 overpass, two men jumped out of the truck and began their assault.
The assailants, later identified as Leblanc and Little, punched Khalsa in the face through his open window, yelled profanities and knocked off his turban. Little then pulled out a knife and cut Khalsa’s hair and stabbed him in the hand.
The attackers, who were in town on contract assignments at the Chevron refinery in Richmond, were arrested shortly after the incident.
Doctors later had to amputate Khalsa’s right pinky finger that was badly cut.
“This is as disturbing a crime as you can be involved in,” Contra Costa County deputy district attorney Simon O’Connell said after Thursday’s hearing. “Thankfully, these individuals are being punished and our community can now move on.”
Khalsa said the attack has “greatly affected every facet of my life.” He suffered damaged teeth, a black eye and had cuts and bruises on his face.
On top of the physical and emotional toll, he’s paid thousands of dollars in medical bills, has had to take time off from his job as an IT specialist for the Social Security Administration and has cut back on his charity work.
“It will take me many years, maybe the rest of my life to heal from this attack,” he said.
And while Khalsa recovers from the ordeal, he said he takes solace in his Sikh faith and his belief that “all of us are one human family.”
“Mr. Little and Mr. Leblanc, I hope that one day you will come to share this view,” he said, addressing his attackers in court. “I still consider you my brothers, and I hope that you will learn about me and my community, and one day consider me your brother, too.”
Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky
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