An Orland Park man has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge stemming from an alleged hate crime involving the man’s neighbor, according to court records and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Terrence Clyne, 68, pleaded guilty Wednesday to assault in Cook County Court in Bridgeview. A more serious hate crime charge against Clyne was dismissed by the state attorney’s office.
Police say Clyne, of the 15400 block of Catalina Drive, punched a neighbor because of his Palestinian heritage following an argument over trash cans.
The confrontation occurred on the morning of Jan. 3, and Clyne punched the neighbor after the man moved trash cans from a shared driveway to another location, police said.
Clyne also made hateful remarks, referencing the man’s Palestinian national origin, police said at the time. At one point, the man’s wife attempted to verbally defuse the situation when Clyne made even more hateful remarks toward her while mentioning his Palestinian origin and moved toward her in an aggressive manner, police said.
The man stepped between Clyne and his wife and was again punched in the face and physically assaulted by Clyne, causing the man to push onto his wife, police said.
Clyne was sentenced to one year of probation, to pay fines, to have no contact with his neighbor, to perform 20 hours of community service by next August and to take anger management classes, according to court records and the state attorney’s office.
An attorney representing Clyne did not respond to a message Thursday seeking comment.
Originally published:
