Man arrested after ‘racial and gender motivated’ assaults at Penn State, in State College
.JPG)
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- David Park faces assault and ethnic intimidation charges after campus, downtown attacks.
- Police allege Park targeted Black males and women in unprovoked assaults.
- Park remains jailed on $50,000 bail; a preliminary hearing is set for Sept. 10.
A Centre County man was charged with assault and ethnic intimidation after a series of what Penn State police described as “racial and gender motivated” attacks on campus and in downtown State College.
David Park, 27, of Patton Township, is accused of assaulting at least four people between July 23 and Wednesday. Two are women who are Penn State students, while the others are Black males. He’s also accused of assaulting a university police officer.
Park was arrested Wednesday after a Centre Area Transportation Authority bus driver reported a fight on board near the Pattee and Paterno Libraries, a university police detective wrote in an affidavit of probable cause.
A man told the detective Park launched an unprovoked attack on him while he was seated and continued to “verbally challenge” him. Park then struck an officer with his knee, challenging him to a fight and resisted arrest, police wrote.
After the arrest, police said they identified Park as the man responsible for other attacks in the area.
A male juvenile, who is Black, told police in July that he had a minor laceration on one of his fingers after Park pushed him from behind and fought with him near the Willard Building. A witness said the attack was unprovoked and that Park was the aggressor. Part of the altercation was captured through video surveillance, police wrote.
A detective said Parked admitted to both attacks during an interview Wednesday. Park said he has a “hatred for Black males” and that his enemies are “always Black people,” police wrote. He also said he wanted to “face his fears and see how strong he was,” police wrote.
His other alleged assaults were carried out against women on CATA buses.
A Penn State student told police Park approached her about 4 p.m. Sunday in the 100 block of East College Avenue. After rebuffing his repeated requests for her contact information, the woman said Park forcefully grabbed her neck and tried to pull her close to him.
A second student said Park forcefully grabbed her arms about 8:40 a.m. Monday when she was about to exit the bus. She said Park loosened his grip after she yelled “What are you doing?”
In the interview with police, Park allegedly said he has “lustful motivations” and a fear of communicating with women. He also said God “promised him offspring” that he would only receive if he followed through with the attacks, police wrote.
A detective said Park poses a “clear and immediate threat” to public safety based on his violent, erratic and escalating behavior.
“The combination of unprovoked assaults, discriminatory animus, and unpredictable behavior establishes that he presents a serious and ongoing danger to the community at large,” the detective wrote.
No defense lawyer was listed and the Centre County Public Defender Office said it wasn’t representing him as of Friday afternoon.
Park is charged with a felony count of aggravated assault and misdemeanor counts of simple assault, resisting arrest, ethnic intimidation and disorderly conduct. He’s also facing a summary count of harassment.
He was arraigned Wednesday by District Judge Allen Sinclair, who set bail at $50,000. He’s incarcerated at the Centre County Correctional Facility.
His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 10.
This story was originally published August 29, 2025 at 12:23 PM.