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 District Attorney’s Office.
Terrence Clyne, 68, pleaded guilty Wednesday to misdemeanor battery at the Cook County Courthouse in Bridgeview. A more serious one prosecution for serious hate crime filed against Clyne was dismissed by the state attorney general’s office.
According to police, Clyne, of the 15400 block of Catalina Drive, punched a male neighbor because of his Palestinian origins after a dispute over trash cans.
The confrontation occurred on the morning of Jan. 3, and Clyne had punched the neighbor after the man had moved trash cans from a shared driveway to another location, according to police.
Cline also made hateful comments, referring to the man’s national Palestinian origins, police said at the time. At one point, the man’s wife tried to verbally de-escalate the situation when Clyne made more hateful comments directed at her while mentioning her Palestinian heritage and moving aggressively toward her, 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 his wife, police said.
Clyne was sentenced to a year of probation, ordered to pay a fine, have no contact with the neighbor, complete 20 hours of community service by next August and complete anger management courses, according to court records and the state attorney’s office.
An attorney representing Clyne did not respond to a message Thursday seeking comment.
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