Quincy man accused of hitting man with car, hurling racial slurs, charged with hate crime

BOSTON — A Quincy man accused of hurling racial slurs at a man he allegedly hit with his car in December has been indicted on a hate crime charge.

John Sullivan, 77, allegedly used his vehicle to purposely strike an Asian man who told him to slow down his car on December 2, according to the U.S. District of Massachusetts.

Desiree Thien told Boston 25 News that Sullivan hit her brother with the car and yelled “Go back to China!” to the man of Asian descent before striking him again.

Police arrested Sullivan after a witness followed him from the scene.

“Hate has no place here in Massachusetts. As this case demonstrates, we will aggressively prosecute hate crimes and other civil-rights offenses committed because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, or national origin of any individual or group. Confronting hate crimes is a priority of my administration. I have established a standalone Criminal Civil Rights Unit and a hotline dedicated to the investigation and potential prosecution of civil rights violations,” said United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins in a statement.

The hate crime charge contains a maximum sentence of 10 years, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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