Bruce Lion, heir to a San Joaquin Valley raisin family, has been charged with felony threats and bias motivated offenses after allegedly targeting his Jewish neighbor in Los Angeles.
Follow us on Google California seedless raisins are seen June 9, 2005 in Des Plaines, Illinois. (photo credit: Tim Boyle/Getty Images ) By ROBERT RODRIGUEZ/THE FRESNO BEE/TNS JUNE 17, 2026 15:40 Bruce Lion, a maverick in the San Joaquin Valley ’s raisin industry, was charged Tuesday with three felony counts of making threats against his Pacific Palisades neighbor.
The 64-year-old Lion was arrested Saturday after allegedly hurling antisemitic insults at his Jewish neighbor.
Lion, a member of the family that owns one of the largest raisin enterprises in the region, is currently in a Los Angeles County jail on a $50,000 bond.
Charged with 'intent to terrorize'
He is charged with one count of using threats or force because of someone’s beliefs and two counts of threatening “ to commit a crime with intent to terrorize.” Lion is expected to be arraigned on Wednesday.
Lion's neighbor, Rabbi Zushe Cunin, told the California Post that he has been targeted by Lion since March, when Lion moved into the $5.3 million mansion next door to his Chabad.
Workers pick (and pack on location) seedless red table grapes in oppressive 108 termperatures on July 7, 2021, near Wheeler Ridge, California. (credit: George Rose/Getty Images) The rabbi accused Lion of interrupting a congregation at his home while shouting antisemitic statements in front of children, according to the Post.
“It was horrific,” Cunin told the Post . “I’ve never experienced it, especially in front of kids. Little children. In this country, to have to see this kind of hatred and antisemitism is just unacceptable.”
During the late 1990s, Lion, his father, Al Lion Jr., and brothers managed Lion Raisins, the family’s 120-year-old business based in Selma.
Although Bruce Lion is hailed by some in the raisin industry as a leader, Fresno County Superior Court records also reveal his troubled past. In 2019, he pleaded no contest to a charge of making criminal threats. That same year, he pleaded no contest to a charge of assault and battery.
Court records also show that in 2018, a relative accused him of punching him in the face while they were at work. Lion had been accused by Lion company officials of creating a hostile work environment, and he blamed the relative for it.
In a request for a civil restraining order, the relative wrote: “The above person ( Bruce Lion) is not mentally stable, and he has a gun.”
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