8:00pm | After being arrested on Halloween of last year following an assault on two citizens leaving the Center of Long Beach, Marquise Anton Lucas, 19, and Sierus Lamar Dunbar, 27, pleaded no contest to felony assault charges today. Judge Gary Ferrari sentenced Lucas to six years in state prison while Dunbar received four years in county custody.
At around 8:00pm on October 31st of last year, the two victims — both over the age of 50 — had left the Center and were eventually called derogatory names by Lucas and Dunbar. While one took a photo of the criminals with his phone, the other attempted to call the police; this is when Lucas attacked. Both victims were severely beaten, suffering broken bones, bruises, and one victim had several broken teeth.
The most serious charges, two counts of assault likely to produce great bodily injury and a hate crime allegation, were allocated to Lucas. Dunbar admitted his prison priors and pleaded to a count of assault likely to produce great bodily injury, hence his lower sentence. Due to the plea bargain, which the defendants had initially rejected as of last week, the third county of battery causing serious bodily injury was dropped. Appeal was denied and both were ordered to pay $2,400 each to the most severely injured victim, who spent days in the hospital following their injuries.
The crime — which eerily echoed a racial hate crime committed on Halloween in Long Beach in 2006 — was the culmination of what seemed to be a series of hate crimes during the late summer and early autumn of last year. The defendants offered no apology to the victims, who were in attendance at the hearing.