by Bryan Gibel
Daily Lobo
The man suspected of attacking more than 20 Indian students over the past several months was charged Thursday with battery, police said.
Turan Johnson, a 34-year-old transient from Chicago, is being held without bond in a mental health unit at the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center, according to the center's Web site.
Indian students said a man would kick them to the ground, say "namaste" - a traditional Indian greeting - and flee
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
the scene.
Johnson was caught Wednesday after a fight with several students and was held in a psychiatric ward at UNM Hospital, said Lt. Pat Davis, spokesman for UNM Police.
He faces three battery charges for the altercation Wednesday and one battery charge for
attacking an Indian student Sept. 5, Davis said.
When he was caught Wednesday, Johnson told police he attacked Indians because, "We are at war with them."
Johnson is being held without bond because the Sept. 5 battery charge is being investigated in connection with other attacks against Indian students, said John Walsh, spokesman for Albuquerque Police Department.
"Each case is investigated individually, but they are all under the halo of a hate crime," he said. "We're continuing with our investigation to do photo arrays to see if we can have any other charges on him. We're working approximately 20 cases."
UNMPD is searching its records for incidents of battery that Johnson can be charged with, Davis said.
"We hope, if there are any other victims, that they will come forward now," he said. "I hope that there are no more cases out there, but we're still going to look back at our old reports to be sure that there's nothing else that we can connect to the case."
Whether Johnson is charged with hate crimes depends on how the district attorney's office decides to prosecute,
Walsh said.
The district attorney's office could not be reached for
comment.
Student George Bezerra helped police catch Johnson on Wednesday.
Bezerra said he is relieved Johnson is in jail without the possibility of being released before trial.
"I feel much safer now," he said. "I was really worried about this guy coming back. He was definitely a threat to the
community."
