Lancaster Man to Face Trial in Alleged Racial Shooting

A Lancaster man has been ordered to stand trial on charges of taking part in a racial shooting outside a Lancaster fast-food restaurant in October, authorities said.

Prosecutors allege that Thomas Edward Deal, 19, was driving a car from which his brother Jason fired at another car outside a Lancaster Taco Bell on Oct. 24. No one was hurt. Three of the counts carry a hate crime provision because three of the five people in the other car were African Americans.

After a preliminary hearing Tuesday in Los Angeles Municipal Court, Thomas Deal was ordered to stand trial on five counts of attempted murder. He is scheduled to be arraigned Dec. 30 in Los Angeles Superior Court. His bail remained set at $2.56 million.

Also charged are Jason Deal, 21, and Michael Bryant, both of Lancaster. Bryant is being held in lieu of $2.57-million bail and Jason Deal is being held in lieu of $2.58-million bail. They are both scheduled to be arraigned in Los Angeles Municipal Court on Monday.

The alleged victims, a carful of five people including three blacks, were in the drive-thru passage at the Taco Bell. They called out to the defendants’ car, thinking they knew someone inside, and then shouted an insult at them that was met with racial slurs, said Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Carla Arranaga.

As the alleged victims were leaving the parking lot, the defendants drove by flashing hand signs--W for White Power and other hand signs symbolizing Ku Klux Klan, Arranaga said. Jason Deal fired six shots, striking the car at least three times, including once in the driver’s side dashboard, she said. The defendants shouted more racial slurs as they fled, she said.

Evidence obtained under search warrants at the home the three defendants share include a Confederate flag that reads “The South Will Rise Again,” and a white cross, a symbol of white supremacy, Arranaga said.

If convicted on all charges, Thomas Deal faces a sentence of life in prison, Arranaga said.