Vehicle runs amok at Day Labor Center

Laguna Beach’s Day Labor Center opened as usual at 6 a.m. Monday, after a bizarre Sunday morning incident in which two men yelling racial slurs allegedly used their vehicle in an apparent attempt to run down those gathered at the center.

Two men - one from Laguna Beach and one from Laguna Niguel - were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and a hate crime in connection with the incident, Det. Sgt. Darin Lenyi said.

Lenyi said the suspects, Dennis Kaptilniy, 18, of Laguna Beach, and Artem Soloviev, 23, of Laguna Niguel, were held on $500,000 bond.

Charges have not yet been filed in the case, the District Attorney’s office said Monday.

The incident began at 9:12 a.m. when the two suspects drove into the labor center in a Toyota Corolla, and spoke with one man, apparently seeking to hire him, Lenyi said.

The center is officially closed on Sundays, but 10 to 15 people typically gather there seeking work, labor center coordinator David Peck, of the Cross-Cultural Council, said.

When the laborer declined to be hired at the price offered, a confrontation and a physical fight ensued, in which the laborer was punched in the face, Lenyi alleged. The two suspects then left in their car, police said.

The suspects returned shortly thereafter and allegedly sped through the center, hitting two people and causing minor injuries, knocking down a tree, and damaging a fence and a bench, Lenyi said. The suspects also allegedly shouted racial epithets during the attack.

The suspects drove through the center “a few times, trying to hit people and intentionally trying to run people over,” Lenyi alleged.

The suspects were arrested by police, who responded to the center within minutes.

The first assault victim was taken to South Coast Medical Center for treatment, but the victims struck by the vehicle did not require hospitalization, police said.

Peck called the destruction at the center “incredible,” and said that the City of Laguna Beach - which leases the property from Caltrans - will be responsible for repairing the damage.

The center has been the target of numerous protests by anti-illegal immigration activists.

When the center is staffed, the laborers do not speak directly with parties seeking to hire them, Peck noted. “If they had come on Monday through Saturday, it would not have happened because someone would have stopped them,” Peck claimed.

“We’re concerned about it and hope it is an isolated incident,” Peck said.

There have been no organized protests at the center for a month or more, Peck said.