Evidence shows racial attack claim was false

Detectives with the Folsom Police Department have released additional information on the alleged Jan. 9 assault in Folsom's Historic District that determined the injuries sustained by the victim were due to a solo fall and not an assault. Earlier this month, Romey Kang of Lincoln reported he was attacked and beaten on Jan. 9. Shortly after the incident, Kang launched his own fundraising page online. From his hospital bed, he shared the page through various forms of social media and said he was the victim of a hate crime. Kang noted he "almost died" and expressed how he felt it wasn't coincidental that the attack occurred just days after the capitol riots in Washington. Investigators since have worked to solve the case while local residents have been concerned of the possibility that a racially-motivated attack occurred in Folsom. Thursday morning, Feb. 4, the Folsom Police Department released a statement regarding the investigation and confirmed the incident was not an assault and that the victim's injuries occurred from a solo fall captured on surveillance video that shows no others near Kang during his incident. "On Jan. 9, 2021 at about 1:18 am our Communications Center received a 9-1-1 call from a male (Kang) who said he was walking in the area of Scott Street and Canal Street when he was assaulted and robbed of one of his credit cards," reads the statement from Folsom Police Detective Melanie Catanio. "He described the suspect as a white male adult, with black hair, wearing light colored clothing." The report explains officers responded to the area and contacted the male caller, who sustained injuries to his jaw and mouth."While speaking to the male caller, officers noted he had difficulty remembering what happened and stated he had been drinking earlier that night on Sutter Street," said Catanio. "In the days following the assault, the victim reported that he had been the victim of a racially- motivated assault by several men."Shortly after the assault, the Folsom Telegraph and other media agencies reported on the incident after Kang took to social media to detail his incident and detectives went to work trying to seek witnesses and obtain surveillance footage that could help them piece together the incident and identify possible suspects."Due to the lack of information provided by the man, officers were left to piece together his whereabouts to locate surveillance, potential witnesses and any additional evidence," Catanio explained. "Over the weeks that followed, detectives worked hard to track down surveillance and witnesses. With the help of local businesses and community members, they were successful."With the help of the business community and other witnesses who stepped forward, detectives were able to determine no such attack had taken place."Surveillance footage was reviewed, and it was determined the man sustained his injuries from a fall. No assault, or racially motivated attack took place, and there are no suspects that pose a threat to the community," said Catanio. "The man involved was contacted, informed and shown the surveillance footage that was located by detectives."During his time in the hospital, Kang's GoFundMe page raised more than $20,000. The victim kept donors updated on his recovery and condition and recently edited portions of the page, removing references to his incident being racially motivated or a hate crime, stating much was not clear from that night and continued to thank his donors.As of last week, Kang's page showed a total of $20,540 was raised but it was no longer operational."This fundraiser is no longer accepting donations. If you are the organizer, beneficiary, team member of donor please sign in for additional information," the page states. Upon signing in, the page states the fundraiser had been disabled by the organizer. In a statement to the media, GoFundMe said, it is investigating the fundraiser and the company takes all complaints seriously. "Fundraisers with misuse are very rare and in the rare instance that someone does create a misleading fundraiser with the intention of taking advantage of others' generosity, GoFundMe takes swift action to resolve the issue," according to the GoFundMe statement. Sacramento County criminal defense attorney Linda Parisi shared with various media agencies that she believes Kang could end up facing several charges for the crime he originally reported. Among those would be making a false report and fraud association with crowdfunding. "That's a completely fabricated claim that it was a racially-motivated attack. That would seem to be a fairly straightforward case both in the criminal court with a higher standard of proof as well as a civil court," Parisi said. If charged and convicted, Parisi said, the consequences could range in severity. "It could vary anywhere between a fine and time, if they pursued a felony fraud, in prison," she explained. "On the one hand, certainly lesser criminal liability if one is under the influence, not thinking clearly, not a well-thought-out response, as opposed to a deliberate attempt to establish circumstances to set up a GoFundMe page." Kang has denied comment to the media, other than stating that he has now hired an attorney.