Sikh man brutally attacked in California

Gulwinder Singh was attacked with a rock and stabbed several times on his face by an unidentified man following a minor road accident. Ritu Jha reports

A fender-bender incident turned violent on Tuesday when a Sikh man was attacked near Highway 99 in Stockton, California.

Gulwinder Singh, a Manteca resident, was driving to work around 7 am when his car was hit. He stopped the car and got out to exchange driving licence information. But the man in the other vehicle pulled out a gun on Singh.

Talking to Rediff.com, Stockton Police Lieutenant James Chraska described the suspect as a 5 foot 6 or 8 inch, 21 or 22-year-old black or Hispanic male with medium length hair and a beard.

The assailant asked the victim (Singh) to leave when he got out of his car following the collision. However, Singh insisted on exchanging driving licence information. It was then that the assailant pulled out a small back revolver. He pointed it at the victim and pulled the trigger, but the gun did not go off.

"There is no arrest so far," said Lieutenant Chraska.

Singh told local television media Fox40 that the assailant pulled a gun on him when he asked for his license. "I said, ‘Ok, ok, it’s cool, I’m leaving.’”

Singh said he was hit on his head with a rock as he was walking back to his car. The suspect also stabbed him on his face with a knife.

When the suspect saw passerby coming towards him, he tried to flee in his car but crashed into a tree. The assailant then fled on foot.

Singh was taken to San Joaquin General Hospital. He received 40 stitches on his ear, above his eye and on the bridge of his nose.

He said he has no idea why the other driver snapped, “Maybe he already did something, and wanted to escape."

Singh drove a taxi for the past 12 years in San Francisco before moving to Manteca. He said he has been a San Joaquin county business owner for 13 years and never expected to be attacked like this.