Barstow police officer charged with hate crime, battery

A Barstow police officer is facing hate crime and battery charges for allegedly using racial slurs against a man and assaulting the victim and a woman in Hesperia, San Bernardino County authorities said Friday.

Jimmy Alfred Walker, 30, of Victorville was arrested in August by San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies responding to a disturbance call in the 11200 block of Fifth Avenue shortly after midnight.

Walker, who is white, allegedly assaulted a 32-year-old man and a 31-year-old woman at the scene, police said. After deputies arrived and in their presence, he then allegedly directed racial epithets toward the man. The race of the victims was not immediately available.

Walker was charged Monday with one misdemeanor count of violating the man’s civil rights, two counts of battery and one count of disturbing the peace.

The officer was charged under a hate crime statute that makes it unlawful to use force, threats or intimidation to interfere with another person’s rights because of disability, gender, nationality, race, religion or sexual orientation.

Walker was released on $50,000 bail after his arrest. He is due to appear on the misdemeanor charges Dec. 13 in a Victorville court.

After his arrest, Walker was assigned to stay home by the Barstow Police Department, pending a resolution to the allegations.

Walker joined the department in May 2009 after working as a San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy.

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