SEDGWICK COUNTY— Authorities are investigating a report that a white man kicked a 1-year-old black child in the back at a Wichita grocery store and yelled racial slurs.
Lashantai Whitaker, 29, said in an interview Thursday that her son, Jhavii Fry, was walking through the store Sunday, holding his 11-year-old sister’s hand, when a man kicked the toddler from behind with his cowboy boot. Her son fell facedown. Whitaker says bystanders tackled the man as he yelled racial slurs.
A 31-year-old man identified as Trace Riff, according to the Sedgwick County, Christmas Eve booking report was released on $3,500 bond hours after he was booked into jail on suspicion of ethnic intimidation, battery and resisting police.
Court records show Riff has spent time in a Kansas mental hospital and has a criminal history that includes drug crimes.
The AP contributed to this report.