SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A family in Natomas is trying to understand why someone left a severed pig head at their door.
The homeowner, who did not want to be identified for safety reasons, says he and his wife were leaving their home on Naponee Court for work early Monday morning when they noticed a strange object.
"About 7:01 (a.m.), I came out of the garage and I stepped a bit left to the front porch and I noticed something sitting on the front porch and I had a second look. I bend over and say, 'What is this,'" he said.
The object was a severed pig head covered in what he describes as a red paste. At first, the family thought it could be fake or even a toy, but the smell gave it away.
"It started to smell really bad and flies were there," he said.
They called Sacramento police when they realized it was a real pig's head. They later reviewed surveillance video, which shows a man in a hoodie walking up to their door around 10 p.m. Sunday, but he doesn't know who the man is.
He's lived in the area for the last 20 years and has no idea why anyone would want to do this to him or his family. He says he's a Pacific Islander from Fiji but he could have been targeted because people confuse his race and ethnicity.
"I could be mistaken for Middle Eastern because of my looks, although a lot of people consider me Hispanic as well. A lot of people speak to me in Spanish when I'm out there, so that could be it, and that's when the pig thing comes in. You know Middle Eastern, that's not Kosher for them," he said.
Police say detectives are investigating the incident as a potential hate crime because the behavior is abnormal and to see if there is any bias motivating it.
The father also questions the intent of the person who left it, as well as why the head was covered in red, and crushed flowers and a cup were left behind.
"The other part is what's next? That's the question that we always ask in terms of if somebody can do this in the middle of the night. What will they do next? So, we're gonna be careful when we come out of the house," he said.
The family is asking anyone who may recognize the man or have any information to call Sacramento Police Department.
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