PALM SPRINGS, Cali. (DDN) – Three people were arrested and charged with assaulting a transgender lady in Palm Springs on Saturday, according to authorities.
They were arrested on accusations of assault and hate crime.
Officers responded to complaints of a fight near a parking structure in the 200 block of South Indian Canyon Drive at 1:15 a.m. Saturday, according to the Palm Springs Police Department.
According to police, the suspects — a brother, his sister, and the sister’s boyfriend — were involved in a family quarrel.
“The brother and boyfriend attempted to escort her into a vehicle to leave the area because she was intoxicated; however, she was uncooperative,” police said. “At this time, two women were passing by and, believing the female was being assaulted, attempted to intervene and de-escalate the situation. The suspects then turned on the victims, physically assaulting them while using derogatory language directed at one of the women, who was transgender.”
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The transgender woman sustained moderate injuries and was transported to the hospital for further treatment.
Officers detained the allegedly inebriated woman and her brother on the scene. At the same moment, the third suspect fled before police arrived, but was eventually apprehended at a residence in Cathedral City.
Diana Wheeler, 37, Jonathan Wheeler, 35, and Jack Rafael, 37, all of whom live in New York, were booked into the John Benoit Detention Center in Indio and each had a $10,000 bail. According to jail records from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, all three were freed late Saturday.
Reference: Three Arrested in Palm Springs Hate Crime Assault on Transgender Woman
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