BURBANK MAN ARRESTED AFTER RACIAL INCIDENT.

Byline: Donna Huffaker Staff Writer

BURBANK - A Burbank man, who police say was outraged that his neighbor's housekeepers parked in front of his home, has been arrested after allegedly denouncing the women's nationality, pushing one of them and squirting both with a hose, officials said.

Keith Veraldi, 42, was arrested Saturday on suspicion of civil rights violations and battery, Burbank police Lt. Robert Giles said Wednesday.

Veraldi began to scream when the two housekeepers, ages 36 and 59, pulled in front of his home in the 900 block of North Florence Street, according to a police report.

The report says Veraldi allegedly yelled repeatedly, ``I hate Mexicans,'' before pushing one of the women and dousing them with a garden hose.

The women called police and, when officers arrived, they were given the choice of having a citation issued or demanding his arrest, Giles said. Although Giles said Veraldi told authorities he just lost his temper, officers took him into custody because allegations of civil rights violations are something the department takes very seriously, he said.

``We'll go to great lengths to investigate these kinds of crimes because we just don't tolerate them at all,'' he said.