On Saturday, May 14th, 2022, at 1:36 am, the Turlock Police Department was dispatched to a reported disturbance in progress at Denny’s, 1991 Lander Ave, Turlock.

When officers arrived on scene, they got out with a subject in the parking lot of the business who matched the description of their suspect. He was identified as Guillermo Lopez, 39, of Empire.

Another officer got out with the victims, a same-sex male couple, who told him that Lopez had gotten into a verbal argument with them because he did not like the fact that they were a same-sex couple. He called them faggots, and eventually things escalated to the point where he attacked one of them.

After a brief investigation, Lopez was arrested and booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center on charges of possession of a controlled substance, committing a hate crime, and battery.