Man Accused of Hitting Woman at State College Store Faces Ethnic Intimidation Charge

A Westmoreland County man is facing charges including ethnic intimidation after allegedly striking a woman in the face earlier this month at a downtown State College store.

Police were dispatched on the afternoon of June 4 to Target, 201 W. Beaver Ave., where a woman said she had been accosted by a man, later identified as 23-year-old William A. Ring, outside the restroom, according to a criminal complaint filed on Friday.

The woman, who is of Hispanic descent, said that after asking Ring why he was staring at her, he told her “Go back where you came from you Mexican,” and “Your skin color is ugly.” A witness also told police that Ring yelled “Why don’t you go back across the border?” at the woman.

Ring then allegedly struck the woman in the face with a closed fist. Police wrote that redness and bruising had already begun to develop on the woman’s face when an officer arrived and that it worsened over the next two days.

Ring fled the scene before the officer arrived, according to the complaint, but was identified after police issued a press release.

Police wrote that when an officer attempted to contact Ring by phone a person answered but did not speak. On a second attempt, the number had been disconnected.

He was charged via summons with one first-degree misdemeanor count of ethnic intimidation and one second-degree misdemeanor count of simple assault.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 20.