A man charged with a hate crime and assault for an alleged incident last year at the Walmart store in Clinton Township was found mentally incompetent and approved for hospitalization.

Vincent Michael Moceri, 42, was charged in January 2024 with two counts each of ethnic intimidation and assault with a dangerous weapon on accusations he yelled racial slurs indicating he would kill the two people and pointed knives at them in the Hall Road store. Moceri is white and the targets of his actions were Black.

Moceri was found mentally incompetent in April 2024, meaning he did not understand the charges against him and could not assist in his defense.

Moceri remained incompetent and was not restored to competency for 15 months at the state Center for Forensic Psychiatry near Ypslianti so late last month the charges were dismissed per state law, according to Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office spokeswoman Esther Wolfe. The state gained approval July 1 by Macomb County Probate Judge Aaron Hall for Moceri’s admission to a mental facility for inpatient treatment, court records say.

The charges could be refiled at a later date.

Moceri was subject of two prior hospital admissions for mental illness in 2014 and 2016, probate records say.