FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — A member of a prominent Central California farming family was arrested over the weekend in Los Angeles County following what neighbors described as a series of threatening and antisemitic outbursts.
Cell phone video obtained by Action News shows the moment 64-year-old Bruce Lion was taken into custody on June 13 outside his home in Pacific Palisades.
Lion, an heir to the Lion Raisin Company, is seen shouting as Los Angeles Police Department officers escort him to a patrol car.
Neighbors said the incident was the latest in months of concerning behavior.
“Multiple people literally picked up and moved away because of him. He’s only been there since March,” said Rabbi Zushe Cunin, who lives next door.
Cunin said he and others in the neighborhood have repeatedly been targeted by Lion’s alleged conduct.
“Racial slurs, intimidation, terror, and horror towards myself, and my family, and community,” he said.
According to Cunin, tensions escalated shortly before Saturday’s arrest, when Lion allegedly confronted a group of workers outside his home.
“He came at them with a hammer, telling them he’s going to kill them, and they’re a bunch of bleep Jews. They weren’t Jewish, by the way, and used the N word multiple times,” Cunin said.
Video from the scene shows Lion shouting at bystanders before officers placed him in a patrol vehicle.
The arrest is the latest in a series of encounters between Lion and law enforcement.
In 2019, he was sentenced to probation for making criminal threats and illegal gun possession.
In 2023, he was arrested in Monterey County, where he was accused of throwing rocks at cars and assaulting construction workers.
Cunin said the community is relieved to see action taken.
“We’ve been here for over 30 years, never experienced anything like this. No one has. We live as a community, all races, all colors, all religions,” he said.
Cunin was in court Tuesday morning as Lion was set to be arraigned, but that hearing was postponed.
Lion is now expected to return to court on Wednesday.
