Hope A. Gorham

A former Butler woman, currently facing a misdemeanor charge in Butler County, was arrested in Allegheny County following an alleged hate crime on Wednesday.

Court records state that Hope A. Gorham, 31, now of Russellton, was charged with felony ethnic intimidation, robbery, conspiracy, aggravated assault, misdemeanor terroristic threats and recklessly endangering another person after an incident in West Deer Township, Allegheny County, after police said she lured a man to a home where he was attacked.

Officials said the incident was charged as a hate crime because some of the men involved were reported to have been wearing swastika tattoos and yelling racial slurs at the man.

Gorham was charged along with George Palmer, 32, also of Russellton, and both are currently held in the Allegheny County Jail on $250,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Wednesday before District Judge Tom Swan.

The affidavit of probable cause filed in the case against Gorham states that at about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, an officer with the West Deer Township Police spotted a man walking down the middle of the street near the intersection of Michael Road and Little Deer Creek Road with no shoes.

The man, identified as Marcus Pope, of Verona, was bleeding from his left eye and had multiple injuries to his face, and reported that he had been jumped “by some white dudes,” the document states.

West Deer EMS responded and eventually transported him to Allegheny General Hospital.

Pope reported he had been drinking at JJ's Country Tavern in New Kensington, when a woman approached him, later identified as Gorham, and asked if he wanted to party. When he arrived at the home on Oak Street, there were allegedly four men, two with shaved heads, one with an anarchist tattoo on his chest and another with a swastika tattoo near his navel.

The men allegedly yelled at Pope for being at the home, calling him a racial slur and for having relationships with white women, saying “that (expletive) doesn't go on out here.” Pope reported that he is Hispanic, but looks black, the document states.

Pope reported that the men then assaulted him, hitting him with a wrench and hammer, and stole his rings, shoes and phone.

Where Pope reported the incident having occurred was Palmer's home, who is “a self-proclaimed white supremacist,” the document states.

Officers arrived at the home and spoke to Palmer and Gorham, who reported they knew nothing about any type of incident and that they were upstairs and were about to go to sleep.

Police said a shoe matching the description Pope had given of his lost shoes was found in the yard, and a red jacket was found lying in the street about three houses down.

Palmer allegedly stated that no one was in the house, but denied permission to search the home. The document states that Palmer was “quick to show his hands and fists that he had not hit anyone,” and after being told a weapon was used, told the officers that he doesn't “fight dirty like that” and “he would go blow to blow with someone instead of using weapons.”

A search warrant was later granted, and Gorham and Palmer were arrested, but no others were found at the home. Police are still looking for at least three other individuals who may have been involved.

Gorham is currently also facing a misdemeanor corruption of minors charge in Butler County Court, after an incident that allegedly occurred May 11, 2016.

The affidavit of probable cause in that case states that the South Butler Elementary School reported numerous absences for two students, who are Gorham's children. On one incident, it was reported that school officials went to Gorham's home when the children were absent, and found them outside riding their bikes while Gorham was inside sleeping.

It was also reported that there were three previous compulsory school attendance incidents that were filed against Gorham, to which she was found guilty, the document states.

She was arraigned and bail was set at $10,000 unsecured. A status conference is scheduled before Butler County Judge William Shaffer on June 5.

Palmer was recently paroled from state prison, after being sentenced to two to five years on a receiving stolen property charge.