BIDDEFORD — Three young men have been arrested after what Biddeford police described as a “violent assault” that appears to be have been racially motiviated.

Deputy Chief JoAnne W. Fisk said police responded to a 911 call at the Sleepy Hollow Motel, 297 Elm St., around 2 a.m. Saturday.

When officers arrived they met a 27-year-old male victim, who had suffered a serious head injury. He was transported to Maine Medical Center with injuries that are not life threatening.

According to police, four or five men went to the motel and used a baseball bat to smash out a 6-foot picture window to the victim’s room. Inside were the man, a woman and a small child.

The woman ran to the child, who was covered in glass, but not injured. As the man opened the door he was jumped by several other men brandishing baseball bats and clubs. They struck the victim in the head several times.

In a press release issued today, Fisk said that “throughout the violent assault the assailants repeatedly yelled ethnic slurs” and many other racial taunts. The attack appears to have been motivated by the victim’s prior relationship with an unknown woman.

Fisk said three people have been arrested; two more men could be charged. They are all being held on felony charges at the York County Jail.

Dale M. Pinkham, 20, of Old Orchard Beach has been charged with disorderly conduct, carrying a concealed weapon (brass knuckles) and aggravated assault.

Darren Crawford, 20, of Biddeford has been charged with elevated aggravated assault.

Michael Gagne, 18, of Old Orchard Beach has been  charged with aggravated assault.

The case has been forwarded to the Maine Attorney General’s Office, which will investigate the assault as a possible hate crime.