Pittsburgh Man Indicted For Hate Crime Assault In Red Robin Incident

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A Pittsburgh man has been indicted by a federal grand jury on a charge of violating the Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

The decision was announced Thursday by Acting Assistant Attorney General Tom Wheeler of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Soo C. Song for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Jeffrey Allen Burgess, 54, is accused in a Nov. 22 incident in which he allegedly willfully caused bodily injury to the victim because of the victim's perceived race, color, and national origin.

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Police said the incident took place at a Red Robin in South Hills Village.

"One patron, believing that the patron next to him was of Muslim descent, assaulted the victim," said Bethel Park Police Chief Timothy O'Connor. "He used a series of racial slurs and then launched his assault on the victim."

If convicted, Burgess faces a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both.