Man in White Hood Held After Gun Is Waved at Black Worker

A recently suspended construction worker, dressed in a white robe and hood and armed with a shotgun, confronted a heavy equipment operator Friday at a dam construction site in Mentone and was later arrested on suspicion of an aggravated civil rights violation and brandishing a firearm, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department reported.

The man, identified as Richard “Mark” McGuire, 34, of Diamond Bar, fled when on-site security officers approached but was caught by sheriff’s deputies after a brief vehicle pursuit, the department said.

The victim of the confrontation, who is black, said he did not know McGuire, who is white, according to Sheriff’s Lt. Dennis Casey. Casey said the motive for McGuire’s actions was unknown. McGuire was jailed on $500,000 bail.