Manteca Sikh Elder Beaten in Suspected Hate Crime as Community Faces String of Targeted Incidents
A 71-year-old Sikh man named Sahib Singh Natt was attacked and beaten by two masked men during his early morning walk in Manteca, California, in an incident captured on a security camera that alarmed South Asian communities across California's Central Valley. Police initially treated the case as a possible robbery while not ruling out a hate crime motivation, and later arrested Tyrone McAllister, 18, who was identified as the estranged son of Union City Police Chief Darryl McAllister. The attack on the elderly Sikh grandfather occurred against a wider backdrop of incidents affecting Manteca's South Asian community, including a separate robbery targeting an Indian family and vandalism at the city's newly constructed cricket pitch.
Elderly Sikh Man Kicked and Spat Upon During Morning Walk in Manteca
During an early morning walk in Manteca, California, a 71-year-old Sikh man identified as Sahib Singh was attacked by two masked men shortly after 6 in the morning, in an incident caught on a security camera installed at a nearby home. BuzzFeed News reported that the two masked men approached Singh and, following a brief interaction, Singh attempted to walk around them by stepping into the street. The men followed, and one of the assailants then kicked Singh, causing him to fall to the ground with his turban falling off in the process. Singh got back to his feet and attempted to defend himself, but was kicked a second time and fell again. As Singh remained on the ground, the two men appeared to start walking away, but one of them returned and delivered three additional kicks before spitting on the victim and running off. The Manteca Police Department was quoted in the Manteca Bulletin as investigating the incident as a robbery attempt while not ruling out the possibility of it being a hate crime. Civil rights advocate Simran Jeet Singh, writing under the social media handle @SikhProf, publicly called for the identification of the assailants and described the assault as a brutal attack on an elderly member of the Sikh community. The Sikh Coalition, a civil rights organization based in New York City, stated that the greater Sikh community was devastated by the attack, and noted that it was the second such assault on a Sikh man in California's Central Valley within the span of a single week. [3]
Police Chief's Estranged Son Arrested in Attack on Sikh Grandfather
The investigation into the Manteca attack on 71-year-old Sikh man Sahib Singh Natt took an unexpected turn when Union City Police Chief Darryl McAllister publicly disclosed that his own estranged son was among those taken into custody in connection with the assault. The BBC reported that Tyrone McAllister, 18, was arrested on Wednesday and faced felony charges. Surveillance footage of the incident showed two men wearing hooded sweatshirts confronting Mr. Natt, who does not speak English, near a park in Manteca. The footage showed Mr. Natt being knocked to the pavement and kicked repeatedly by one of the assailants. Police noted that one of the men may have brandished a firearm in the air as the pair left the scene. Authorities continued to investigate the incident as an attempted robbery rather than a hate crime. Chief McAllister, who was not handling the case himself, published a statement on Facebook writing that words could barely describe how embarrassed, dejected, and hurt his family felt upon learning of his son's alleged involvement. He stated that violence, hatred, and intolerance for others were not values his family had taught. The chief also confirmed that he had assisted Manteca police in locating his son, from whom he had been estranged for several months prior to the arrest. He noted that while Mr. Natt suffered only minor physical injuries, the greater Sikh community was devastated by the nature of the attack on the elderly grandfather. [5]
🤝 Indian Family Robbed of $80,000 in Coordinated Daytime Attack
The American Bazaar reported on a deeply troubling incident in which an Indian family in Manteca, California, was allegedly robbed of $80,000 in what the publication characterized as a highly coordinated daytime robbery. The article, published April 28, 2026, and authored by journalist Shubhangi Chowdhury, described the robbery as a planned and organized operation carried out in broad daylight that left the victims shaken by the experience. The report noted that the case gained considerable traction on social media after a viral Instagram reel emerged alleging the specifics of the robbery, amplifying awareness of the incident well beyond the immediate local community. The reel presented accounts of a coordinated scheme, a detail that the American Bazaar highlighted as particularly significant given the scale of the alleged theft. The American Bazaar, a publication covering news of interest to South Asians living in the United States, treated the Manteca robbery as a matter of serious concern to its readership given both the substantial sum involved and the apparent targeting of an Indian household in the Central Valley city. The viral nature of the Instagram reel was cited in the report as a key driver of the story reaching a national South Asian audience, illustrating how social media has become a primary channel through which diaspora communities share and respond to news of crimes affecting their own. The account described the victims as shaken by the experience, and the coordinated nature of the operation underscored the deliberateness of the alleged crime. [1]
🤝 Manteca's New Cricket Pitch Defiled in Vandalism City Calls a Hateful Act
The city of Manteca was confronted with a deliberate act of vandalism after officials reported that the newly constructed cricket pitch at Doxey Park had been covered in dog feces, an incident that city leaders publicly condemned as a hateful and senseless act. KCRA reported that the cricket pitch had been under construction at Doxey Park for approximately one month at the time of the incident and had not yet officially opened to the public when the vandalism was discovered. The act occurred on a Sunday, and the city of Manteca addressed it the following Tuesday through a post on the city's official Facebook page, using the phrase hateful and senseless act to describe what had taken place. The Manteca Police Department confirmed that the incident was being investigated as a hateful act directed at a city facility, distinguishing it from ordinary vandalism or random mischief. One detail that stood out in the KCRA report was the timing of the vandalism: it took place just one day after the city's Love Manteca event, a day that had been dedicated to various volunteer projects and community engagement throughout the city. KCRA reported that city officials used the phrase disgusting mess to describe the state of the pitch, and both the city government and the police department treated the matter with seriousness given the apparent intentional nature of the defacement. The vandalism drew attention to the newly invested community asset, which had been built but had not yet hosted a single official game of cricket before it was targeted. [6]
Sources: [3] BuzzFeed News · [5] BBC · [1] The American Bazaar · [6] KCRA