New Twist to Novato Hate Crime Spree: Man Nabbed Twice in One Week For Racially Fueled Crimes

A 59-year-old man, Brian Collins, was arrested twice within a week on a slew of charges, including stalking, threatening behavior, and hate crime offenses. This sequence of events began on August 2, 2023, when Collins allegedly attempted to ram a bicyclist with his pick-up truck and accused the cyclist of stealing his bike, hurling racial epithets and threats at the victim in the process, CBS San Francisco reported.

Collins was arrested the same day and booked into the Marin County Jail on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, criminal threats, and hate crimes, but he was later released on bail. However, his time out of custody was short-lived, as only a few days later, on August 5, 2023, Novato Police Department received a call about a harassment incident in the downtown area, according to KRON4.

When police arrived at the scene, they discovered that Collins had allegedly been involved in repetitive harassment of another victim, using threats and racial slurs. Collins was once again taken into custody and charged with stalking, making threats, hate crime offenses, and committing a crime while on bail, Marin Independent Journal reported.

Due to the close timing and similarity of the charges, the Marin County District Attorney's Office elected to file charges for both cases against Collins. 

Brian Collins is currently being held at Marin County Jail, facing multiple serious charges. The district attorney's office has filed charges for these incidents, and the court date is set for August 11, 2023.