The Alexandria Police Department is implementing new policies to handle hate crimes after the arrest of a woman charged with a bias-motivated assault in December.
On the afternoon of Christmas Day, the alleged victim filmed the incident inside the Giant grocery store on Duke Street, then contacted Alexandria police.
That led to the arrest of 34-year-old Shibritney Colbert of Landover, Maryland, on Thursday. She can be seen on the video accosting the man and call him homophobic slurs.
She is currently in jail in Prince George’s County, Maryland, and is awaiting extradition to Virginia.
She faces multiple charges, including assault and battery and destruction of property.
Video of the incident can be viewed below:
“Ultimately, the suspect began to say slurs as relates to the person’s sexual orientation and also racial slurs. And again, I cannot speak to or say how the victim felt in this incident, but it is very alarming and very disheartening,” Alexandria Police Chief Tarrick McGuire said.
Among the changes that will be implemented in the department is the creation of regular reports on hate crimes within Alexandria.
“It holds us accountable to ensure that we are deliberately investigating these offenses in a way that we’re going to take immediate action,” McGurie told WTOP.
Additionally, McGuire said cases will be assigned to specific investigators in a timely manner, with an expectation to fully prosecute these cases.
“The last thing I will say is, is that it’s important that I, as a chief of police, am immediately notified when an incident like this happens and occurs in our community,” he said.
