Stanford campus hit-and-run investigated as hate crime after Muslim student struck, injured

An Arab Muslim student at Stanford was injured in a hit-and-run traffic incident Friday, which the California Highway Patrol is investigating as a possible hate crime, university officials said.

The driver of a black SUV reportedly struck the student at Campus Drive and Ayrshire Farm Lane, near several student residence buildings shortly before 2 p.m. Friday, according to advisories from Stanford’s Department of Public Safety.

The hit-and run victim, who suffered non-life-threatening injuries and is receiving medical care, told police that the driver made eye contact and accelerated before striking them. The student said the driver yelled “f*** you and your people” out the vehicle’s open window before driving away.

While CHP probes all campus traffic incidents, the agency said the circumstances of Friday’s strike prompted a hate crime investigation.

The student described the driver as a white male in his mid-20s, with short dirty-blond hair and a short beard, who was wearing round framed eyeglasses and a gray shirt at the time of the attack.

The vehicle involved in the incident is described by the victim as a black Toyota 4Runner with California plates, model year 2015 or newer, with an exposed tire mounted to the rear center and a Toyota logo in the center of the wheel.

On Friday, a campus safety alert about the incident said that additional security has been deployed to key locations on campus, as Stanford works to provide a “safe and secure campus environment in the context of heightened tensions related to the events in Israel and Gaza.”