A San Pedro family's car that was vandalized with spray-painted racial slurs and swastikas just days after Christmas, was restored and looking shiny and new again after an auto business donated its labor to restore the car and hand it back to its owner Friday morning.
Reginald Scott was teary-eyed as he looked at his pristine red mustang and talked not only about the generosity of Mario Vasquez of Tint My Ride auto shop, but also of the Los Angeles community that stood by him and his family as he endured this hate crime and others before it.
"It's just us by ourselves, we don't have any family members to help us. And just knowing that L.A. in general helped with everything, Karen Bass called to see how everything was going," Scott said.
"Me myself personally, I feel like it's the call of Mighty Mouse, 'Here I come to save the day' and people came, and, it's about to make me cry."
Neighbors of the Scott family reported the vandalism to police on Dec. 29. The car was covered with black spray-painted swastikas, the n-word and "merry Christmas."
Scott said this was not the only time his car was damaged. He said he's had his car towed, tires slashed and even set on fire, and the December incident is just the latest in a long trend of targeted attacks.
Vasquez of Tint My Ride, said the car was in pretty bad shape with spray paint all over it, and with other damages and scratches.
"Since it happened during Christmas, we decided to donate the labor for the vehicle," said Vasquez.
He said it took nearly two months to fix the car and get it looking like new again.
Scott said he was at the auto shop a lot as his Mustang was getting repaired, and he joked saying Vasquez is probably tired of him.
"But you know we had talks about not holding a grudge against anyone, not being racist, teaching my kids not to be racist, and … not going back to retaliating," Scott said.
"That's been one of the hardest things I've been doing, because everyone looks suspicious and I don't want to look at everyone as if they are an evil person or evil doer -- and with my good heart I want to keep it clear."
Los Angeles City Councilman Tim McOsker, whose 15th District oversees the San Pedro area, said he was "horrified to learn of the disgusting, vile vandalism that occurred in San Pedro over the holidays," in a statement.
"The words and symbols spray-painted on the car cause real, tangible terror and harm to our neighbors and our community," McOsker's statement continued. "I do not take this lightly. I have spoken to Mr. and Mrs. Scott to offer my support as they go through this unimaginable pain that their family is dealing with at this time. This crime is hateful, deplorable and has no place here in the 15th Council District or anywhere."
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February 24, 2024 at 02:55AM
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San Pedro family car vandalized with racial slurs is restored courtesy of auto business - CBS Los Angeles
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