SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - Hate crime charges were filed Monday against the Little Italy man accused of attacking three Muslim women wearing hijabs.
Kyle Allen, 50, pleaded not guilty to battery in a San Diego courtroom following the Oct. 6 incident.
The women were walking on Columbia Street when Allen approached them from the other direction. Witnesses said Allen lunged his shoulder into them, tried to remove one woman's hijab, then hit one of the women.
RELATED: San Diego Police: Alleged attack on 3 women in hijabs a possible hate crime
"As I got closer I heard him calling her names and telling them to go back to where they came from," a witness who only wanted to be identified as Amy told 10News.
Passersby trailed Allen back to his high-rise apartment in Little Italy and called police.
San Diego Police said Allen answered his front door while holding a handgun with a silencer. A total of 10 guns were found in Allen's home and seized, investigators said. Allen was arrested without incident.
Protection orders are in place for the three women, keeping Allen from contacting them or coming within 100 yards.
Allen will return to court Dec. 19 for a preliminary hearing. He faces up to four years, four months in prison if tried and convicted, according to the District Attorney's office.
