Police seek CA hate crime suspect who ripped hijab from Iraqi woman's head and choked her

Police are seeking a man who ripped a hijab from an Iraqi immigrant’s head and then choked her earlier this month in California, reported the Los Angeles Times.

The man ran up behind the woman as she loaded groceries into her car July 2 in the parking lot of a Long Beach shopping center, police said, and ripped off the headscarf worn by Muslim women to conceal their hair and neck.

Police said the man cursed at the woman as he forcefully twisted off the hijab, which he identified by name, and choked the victim as she resisted his efforts to remove the scarf.

The woman suffered bruises and scratches to her neck in the attack, police said.

The man fled on foot, carrying the woman's head scarf.

The victim described her attacker as a bearded white man in his 30s, about 5 feet 9 inches tall with a thin build, and wearing a white button-down shirt and black pants.

Police are investigating the case as a possible hate crime.

Watch this video report posted online by KTLA-TV: