A Centre Region man is facing charges including assault and ethnic intimidation for what Penn State police described as a series of “racial and gender motivated” attacks over the summer on the University Park campus and in downtown State College.
David Park, 27, of Patton Township, is accused of physically assaulting at least four individuals between July 23 and this week, as well as striking a police officer.
Park was arrested on Wednesday after a CATA driver reported a fight on board a bus near Pattee and Paterno Libraries on the Penn State campus. According to an affidavit of probable cause, witness statements and security camera footage showed that Park struck a Black male in the face unprovoked.
When police arrived, Park continued to “verbally provoke” the man, then struck the responding officer in the knee and resisted arrest while challenging the officer to a fight, according to the affidavit.
After Park was taken into custody, police identified him as the assailant in another unprovoked attack that occurred on July 23 outside the Willard Building on campus, according to the affidavit. Park pushed a Black male juvenile student from behind and engaged him in a fight, then left the area after he was pushed to the ground, police wrote. Security footage corroborated witness accounts of the incident.
During an interview with police on Wednesday, Park allegedly admitted to attacking both individuals because he has a hatred for Black males. He also said that his “enemies are always Black people,” that he believed God was telling him to “destroy Black people” and that he “wanted to face his fears and see how strong he was,” police wrote.
Park also admitted to two separate attacks against women on CATA buses, according to the affidavit.
A female Penn State student reported that at about 4 p.m. on Sunday she was riding a bus traveling on East College Avenue when a man she did not know approached her and repeatedly asked for her contact information. After she rebuked him, the man, later identified as Park, forcefully grabbed the back of her neck to pull her toward him, inflicting pain and briefly preventing her from escaping, according to the affidavit.
After the woman pulled away, Park ran his hand down her back and she retreated to a different part of the bus, police wrote.
Another female reported that on Monday morning she was about to exit a bus at the university libraries when a man she didn’t know got out of his seat, blocked her exit and forcefully grasped her upper arms, according to the affidavit. She told police that after she yelled “What are you doing?” the man yelled the same back at her and loosened his grip enough for her to get away.
Police said security camera footage showed the man to be Park and that he he also attempted to grab the woman’s waist or hips.
Park allegedly told police he had “lustful motivations” in assaulting both women. He said he has a fear of communicating with women, but that God promised him offspring in a dream and if he did not “follow through with these types of actions he will betray God and not receive offspring,” according to the affidavit.
An officer wrote that Park “poses a clear and immediate threat to public safety.”
“He has engaged in multiple unprovoked assaults, including physically attacking women and Black males with racially motivated aggression,” the officer wrote. “His conduct reflects a disregard for the safety of others and a propensity for escalating violence. The combination of unprovoked assaults, discriminatory animus and unpredictable behavior establishes that he presents a serious and ongoing danger to the community at large.”
Park is charged with a felony count of aggravated assault of a police officer, two misdemeanor counts of ethnic intimidation, three misdemeanor counts of simple assault, four misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct, one misdemeanor count of resisting arrest and one summary count of harassment.
He was arraigned Wednesday night by District Judge Allen Sinclair and was unable to post $50,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 10.
A Penn State spokesperson said Park is not a student or employee at the university. He was last enrolled as a Penn State student in the fall of 2018.
