Police arrest woman on suspicion of racially-motivated assault

A woman was arrested Tuesday afternoon in Berkeley after allegedly committing a hate crime against another woman, police officials said.

According to police, a woman in her 30s was walking along the 2500 block of Durant Avenue shortly after 4 p.m. when she encountered another woman rummaging through a trash can.

As the victim walked around the suspect, the suspect yelled hateful statements about people of Mexican descent at her and pushed her off the curb, causing the victim to fall onto her back about 4 inches into the roadway.

Officers located the suspect, a 55-year-old woman with no address, on the same block and arrested her on suspicion of battery, willfully threatening a person based on their perceived characteristics, violation of probation and having an outstanding arrest warrant. Her name was not immediately released.