Last October, while he was on his way to work at Petco Park, a man in a wheelchair stopped in the 7-Eleven on Park Boulevard for a cool drink.
In minutes, his day, and his life, would be changed.
Inside the store, William Padilla had just finished paying when a good Samaritan offered to help the man in the wheelchair buy his beverage. The good Samaritan asked if Padilla, a stranger to the disabled man, could move so the man could buy his drink.
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The seemingly innocent interaction led to a "physical altercation" between the good Samaritan and the 42-year-old Padilla, according to prosecutors, a fight that continued outside.
After the fight, Padilla went back inside, directing "disability-related slurs" at the man in the wheelchair and yelling at him, “You stupid idiot. No one cares. I could kill you,” according to prosecutors, spitting on the disabled man repeatedly as well.
Padilla took the stand during his recent trial on a misdemeanor count of willful cruelty to a dependent adult with a hate crime allegation, maintaining that he was the victim in the incident, due to his involvement in the fight with the good Samaritan.
The jury, though, disagreed, finding Padilla guilty on April 6. He was sentenced to 96 days of time served, as well as a year of probation. Padilla will also have to take an eight-hour anger-management course within the next 60 days.
Prosecutors said neither Padilla nor the good Samaritan was charged in connection to the fight, since "it was deemed to be mutual combat."
