Madison Man Charge in Hate Crime Incident; Damaged Property, Uttered Racial Slur
- Case number: 21-01431
- Incident date: October 16, 2021, 6:45 pm
- Incident type: Disorderly Conduct
- Location/address: Near the Nicholas Pavillion
The UW-Madison Police Department has referred hate crime charges against a Madison man following an incident two weeks ago.
On Saturday, October 16, 2021 at approximately 6:45 p.m., a UW student was walking home from the Nicholas Recreation Center when an unknown man approached him. Unprovoked, the man – Gary Stephens, 34, Madison – slapped the victim’s phone from his hand, smashing it on the ground. Stephens uttered a racial slur to the student, who is of Asian descent.
UWPD investigators worked to identify Stevens through witness statements and security camera footage. Stephens was positively identified as the suspect and was arrested on Saturday, October 30 by the City of Madison Police Department on separate charges.
On Monday, November 1, UWPD referred the following charges against Stephens related to the October 16th incident:
- Disorderly conduct – hate crime enhancer
- Criminal damage
- Bail jumping
Stephens has no affiliation with UW-Madison. He’s scheduled for an initial appearance in Dane County Court on Wednesday, November 3, 2021.
UW-Madison and the UW-Madison Police Department take all hate and bias incidents very seriously. All members of the UW-Madison community deserve to feel welcome, valued, and safe. In addition to reporting hate crimes to UWPD, our community can also report hate and bias incidents to the university here.