A 50-year-old carmel man has pleaded not guilty to assault. Peter wells is being charged with “civil rights violations,” (amounting to a hate crime enhancement), for allegedly throwing a rock at a gardener last month, and yelling racial slurs at the victim. The victim was not struck by the rock. Wells, (who has several prior felony convictions), was arrested on December 28th. He is free on bail, and is scheduled to return to a monterey county courtroom on February 24th.
