Monterey man arrested on suspicion of anti-Muslim hate crime

MONTEREY COUNTY, Calif. - Police in Monterey are investigating an alleged hate crime that occurred the first week of December, the department said Friday.    

A man reported sitting in his vehicle in the 300 block of Pine Street on Dec. 3 when a person came up and began scratching something into the side of his vehicle. When the suspect realized there was a person sitting in the car, he fled, according to police.     

Police initiated an investigation, but a person matching the description of the suspect eventually drove up to the neighboring property of the victim.     

The suspect was identified as Mikhail Faybyshev, 46, of Monterey.   

Police allege they have Faybyshev on video footage committing the crime. They also allege that Faybyshev admitted to scratching words into the side of the victim's car because he was Muslim.     

Faybyshev was arrested on suspicion of vandalism and a hate crime.     

According to the Monterey Police, they are coordinating with the FBI on this case and have reached out to local Muslim leadership to make them aware of what happened, offer support and ask that they report anything of concern to the department.     

Police on Friday said that the city has had four reported hate crime cases so far this year, two of which were based on race and two that were based on religion.