A man who allegedly attacked a Latino father and son outside their Salt Lake City tire shop in November, saying he was looking to “kill a Mexican,” was charged Wednesday with three federal hate crimes.
The grand jury indictment alleges Alan D. Covington, 50, attempted to kill 18-year-old Luis Gustavo Lopez when he struck him in the head with a metal pole on Nov. 27 because Covington believed Lopez was from Mexico. Covington also is charged with hitting Lopez’s father, 51-year-old Jose Lopez, and attempting to hit another person for the same reason, according to a news release for Utah’s U.