The King County prosecutor's office filed charges today against a Kent man who is accused in last Saturday's hate crime assault on a Seattle taxi cab driver.

20-year-old Luis Arturo Vazquez is charged with one count of malicious harassment, the state's hate crime charge, and one count of assault in the third degree.

The victim was a 48-year-old member of Seattle's Sikh community who is a taxi driver for Orange Cab who was attacked by a passenger last Saturday night.

The State Patrol says Sukhvir Singh stopped his taxi in car pool lane on Saturday night on Interstate 5 near Columbian Way in Seattle in an attempt to escape the attack. Police reports say the attacker punched, choked and bit him, calling him an "Iraqi terrorist."

The State Patrol say Singh was asked by police to take the man home after he was ejected from Husky Stadium during the Apple Cup football game.

Vazquez is scheduled to be arraigned next Tuesday at the King County Courthouse in Seattle.

If convicted as charged, the sentence range is 6 to 12 months in jail.

A judge yesterday ordered Vazquez to be held on $25,000 bail.

Vazquez was ordered not to have any contact with Singh and was told not to consume any alcohol or nonprescription drugs pending resolution of the charges. [Link]