A Long Island, N.Y., man is behind bars after allegedly punching and shouting racial epithets at V. Stiviano, the New York Daily News reported Tuesday.
V. Stiviano attacked in New York
Dominic Diorio, has been charged with assault as a hate crime and aggravated harassment during an incident Sunday in which he and an accomplice are alleged to have attacked Stiviano, who is at the center of the Donald Sterling controversy.
The 40-year-old Diorio had been identified through surveillance video and then by Stiviano in a lineup and surrendered to police on Monday, officials and Stiviano's lawyer Mac Nehoray told the Daily News.
Apparently in a drunken state, Diorio and his friend recognized the 31-year-old Stiviano eating outside the Gansevoort Hotel and began harassing her.
Video shows V. Stiviano making racist comments
According to the Daily News, the men followed her outside and hurled slurs as they punched her in the head and face, officials and her attorney said.
"As Ms. Stiviano was getting inside a cab, one of the assailants punched her in the face, calling her a "f------ n----- bitch," Nehoray said in a statement. "Moments later, Ms. Stiviano was punched again by the same person while he was yelling, 'I am going to slaughter you.' "
The Daily News reported that the two men then fled the scene, only to encounter two other men who attacked them and knocked them to the ground. Stiviano's attackers were found bleeding on the pavement when police found them, and one of the men tried to convince the police that the attack on them never took place.
It was unclear from the report why the alleged attackers weren't immediately apprehended. In fact, the second alleged assailant remains at large.
Stiviano's life has been in the media spotlight since she recorded Sterling, owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, making racist remarks during a conversation that was leaked to TMZ. The audio led to Sterling's lifetime ban and the sale of the Clippers to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.
Once the investigation is complete, Stiviano plans to fly back to Los Angeles and visit her doctor, the Daily News reported, to check for broken bones.
"She is in a lot of pain," Nehoray said.
Stiviano, however, reportedly went to a hospital in New York after the attack, and the discovery of broken bones would have seemed to be revealed at the time of that examination.
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