Atlanta police are considering upgrading the charges against a man who allegedly attacked and attempted to strangle a food delivery driver with her own head scarf.
Channel 2 Action News reported that Rick Painter, 54, has a criminal history involving multiple agencies and charges, including one for reckless conduct by someone with HIV.
The alleged victim, Sonya King, said she fought off Painter with her car keys, cut his head multiple times and accidentally got his blood into a cut on her hand during the struggle. King, who works for DoorDash, told Channel 2 that she was prescribed anti-retroviral drugs as a precaution.
Atlanta police released a statement to Channel 2 after being informed of Painter’s previous charges: “We’ve been reviewing the case and reached out to the DA’s Office after you brought these concerns to our attention.”
Painter, who is known to police as someone who has dementia, was charged with misdemeanor battery.
Edward Ahmed Mitchell, civil rights attorney and executive director of CAIR Georgia, told the news station that the charges should include false imprisonment or kidnapping. He also said it might have been a targeted attack and potential hate crime.
“Based on the fact that he attacked an African American Muslim woman who was clearly wearing Islamic clothing, that indicates to me that this certainly did involve bigotry of some sort,” Mitchell said.
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