Update: Man arrested on hate crime charge after racist, homophobic rant at San Ramon In-N-Out
SAN RAMON -- Police in San Ramon arrested a man in connection with a racist and homophobic rant against two customers eating at an In-N-Out Burger on Christmas Eve.
According to Police Chief Denton Carlson, officers arrested 40-year-old Jordan Douglas Krah of Denver, Colorado on suspicion of committing a hate crime. Krah was booked into the Contra Costa County Jail in Martinez.
"We will continue to take swift and diligent legal action against acts of hate to help create an inclusive place for all to live, work and visit," police said in a statement Monday.
Before his arrest, San Ramon Police said they have received similar complaints about similar behavior from what appears to be the same man.
The victims, Arine Kim and Elliot Ha, told KPIX on Sunday that they were at the restaurant and trying some items off the secret menu when the man approached them and started making the comments.
Neither knows what caused the man to walk over and start talking to them, but knew quickly after he did, that he wanted to start trouble.
"It was a shock, to say the least," Kim recalled.
The video shows the man approaching for a second time, continuing to harass them.
"Elliot and I were shaking and stuttering towards the end of it," Kim said.
The back and forth continues for a few more minutes, with the man continuing to ask homophobic and racist questions to the friends.
"Are you Japanese or Korean?" the man is heard saying. "You Kim Jong Un's boyfriend?"
Eventually, the man left.
"The alarm bells were ringing inside our head, like we are in danger," Kim said.
The pair said after the man exited the restaurant, he stood outside staring at them for several minutes.
"He was staring us down for 10 to 15 minutes through the window and his gaze never averted from us," Kim said.
After the man left the scene, store employees walked the two out to their car to make sure he wasn't lurking around.
"We made sure to ask the workers, could you guys walk us to our cars, we need to make sure that he's not still around. And the workers were just super helpful," Ha told KPIX.
The pair uploaded the video to TikTok and since the video was posted Saturday, it has garnered millions of views and tens of thousands of comments.
"Community within the comments, if that makes sense, is all very wholeheartedly supportive of stopping asian hate, movements against POC in general," Ha said.
It was not immediately known when Krah would appear in court on the charge.
