A Las Vegas man accused of yelling anti-Asian slurs and attacking a boba tea shop owner is officially free after a judge dismissed his charges on Tuesday.
Anthony Joseph Dishari, 36, was reported to have entered Cloud Tea near Buffalo and Flamingo Roads in January after getting involved in a separate fight at a nearby bar.
The owner, also 36, was working at the back of the store when Dishari allegedly entered and yelled anti-Asian slurs. Dishari eventually left the store, and the owner reportedly came out with an unloaded firearm. He was subsequently attacked by Dishari in the parking lot.
“He remembers the defendant demanding his gun, saying give me your gun, as he is beating him mercilessly,” said Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney Mike Dickerson, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Dickerson described the incident as “motivated by racism.” Two employees confirmed that the owner, who is Chinese, was the only person assaulted by the suspect.
After the attack, Dishari allegedly returned to the store and demanded water from the people he had been calling racial slurs “all night.” Dickerson said there were nine people at the store, and they were “all Asian Americans.”
The victim reportedly lost consciousness and woke up at a hospital. He suffered fractured ribs, broken teeth and scrapes all over his face, according to Dickerson.
Dishari, who was arrested late Saturday, was charged with (1) attempted robbery, (2) battery resulting in substantial bodily harm, (3) battery with intent to commit mayhem robbery or grand larceny and (4) resisting a public officer, a misdemeanor. Records show the first three charges were “motivated by bias or hatred” toward the victim.
On Tuesday, Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Amy Chelini dismissed Dishari’s charges after learning that the store owner was armed while approaching Dishari, according to AP News. Surveillance footage from a nearby store also recorded the sound of a gunshot, though no one was injured.
Records show prosecutors realizing that Dishari appeared to have “a legitimate self-defense claim,” according to KTNV. Ultimately, they “could not prove the accusations beyond a reasonable doubt and motioned to dismiss the case.”
Dishari, an Air Force veteran, was reportedly imprisoned for several nights before posting a $25,000 bail. He also served as an armed security guard for 15 years, according to his lawyer Sean Sullivan.
“My client is not a racist. He’s been exonerated,” Sullivan said on Wednesday, according to AP News.
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