RUTLAND, Vt. -- A 19-year-old Rutland man has been charged with a hate crime for allegedly firing a BB gun and striking two Asian members of a high school track team running through the city.

Daniel Streeter pleaded innocent Friday in Vermont District Court to two counts of attempted aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the April 25 incident. He was released on conditions that he not contact the alleged victims.

Prosecutors also charged both offenses as hate crimes, which provides for enhanced penalties if convicted.

Deputy State's Attorney Marc Brierre said in court Friday that the hate crime provision was added because Streeter fired his BB gun as the Mount St. Joseph Academy track team was running on Meadow Street and hit the two non-Caucasian members of the team, even though they were not next to each other.

Mount St. Joseph Academy is a private religious high school in Rutland.

Public defender Patricia Lancaster said in court that her client strongly denied that any of his actions were motivated by race.

"His wife and mother assured me that he does not have a racist bone in his body," Lancaster said of Streeter.

Rutland City Police said Timothy Jones, Mount St. Joseph Academy track team's coach, called Monday afternoon reporting the incident.

Police interviewed the two students hit from behind by the BBs, Joseph Park, 18, and Janet Oh, 15.

Park told police he had welts after being shot twice in the buttocks, Schutt wrote. Oh said she had a small welt on the small of her back, the affidavit stated. Both refused medical treatment.

Both Park and Oh told police they believed they were targeted because they are Korean.

"The offense of hate-motivated crimes is based on the fact that Streeter had shot a female jogger (Janet Oh) of Korean descent and then shot a male jogger (Joseph Park) of Korean descent minutes later," Schutt wrote. "It was found that Streeter singled these two Korean victims out of the group of 20 joggers varying in multiple nationalities."

Police said as they continued their investigation they talked to residents of the area and eventually questioned Streeter, who lives on the street where the incident happened.