Wisconsin man attacks and slurs Black woman in front of her children in parking lot dispute

A Wisconsin man was arrested for attacking a Black woman in front of her children outside a grocery store.

David Lythjohan told police he was upset with the woman because her car was blocking him from pulling out of a parking stall to go pick up his wife waiting outside Woodman's grocery, reported Channel 3000.

The woman, who had just dropped off her children and planned to park, told police that Lythjohan banged on her car window and then opened her car door and struck her in the face.

The children saw that attack and ran for help, and surveillance video shows the children pulling the 65-year-old Fitchburg man off their mother.

Lythjohan denies punching the woman, but an online petition seeking hate crime charges claims the man yelled racial slurs and obscenities at the Black family before jumping out of his vehicle to attack the woman.

The petition claims the woman, identified as 32-year-old Raychel Northington, tried to fight the older man off by hitting and punching him, and then claims Lythjohan choked one of the woman's sons when he tried to help.

The man allegedly shoved the woman's 4-year-old child to the ground as he attempted to flee, but Northington and some bystanders detained him until police arrived.

Lythjohan, who has a history of theft, burglary and battery, was charged with battery and disorderly conduct in the attack.