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Netflix chef violently attacked in San Francisco hate crime

  • Chef Wendy Drew said she was attacked by stranger
  • Man called her a racial slur
  • Said she was attacked for asking why he called her slur

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(NewsNation) —A chef featured in a Netflix limited series was violently attacked in San Francisco by a man she says called her a racial slur before beating her. 

Wendy Drew told NewsNation on Tuesday that the brutal encounter happened outside of a restaurant while she was on the phone with her mother. 

That’s when a stranger and his dog walked by and called Drew the n-word, she said. 

After she asked him why he said that word, he began physically punching and hitting her. 

“He decided to beat me for asking him why he called me the n-word.”

Drew said her “quick thinking” led her to push her attacker into a neighboring liquor store in order for the encounter to be captured on surveillance cameras. 

“I didn’t know if this attack was going to be seen,” she said. The man continued to beat her as Drew is seen bracing her head and then toppling over onto the ground in the liquor store’s security cameras.

“I told him that he’s not getting away and that he’s going to go to jail for what he’s done to me.” 

Footage shows a customer inside the store using pepper spray on the man. 

Drew said she held on to the attacker to prevent him from getting away. 

Police identified the attacker as Irvin Rivera-Lara, 31.

He was arrested on charges of assault likely to cause great bodily injury, committing a hate crime, and providing false information to a peace officer.

Days later, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced Rivera-Lara would face hate crime special allegations for assault and battery charges. 

Drew, who appeared in the series “You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment,” said she was satisfied with the charges and is expected to make a full recovery. 

She suffered a broken nose, cuts and bruises on her face.

Crime

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