美国被曝施压卡塔尔、埃及威胁哈马斯:不达成停火协议将制裁 | 8k8 com register | Updated: 2024-08-17 09:34:36
A 38-year-old homeless man who killed his mother in 2002 and was released on parole 16 months ago has been arrested and charged with a hate crime in the daylight assault of a 65-year-old Asian woman near Times Square.
Police said tips led them to a hotel-turned-homeless shelter on West 40th Street in Manhattan, where just before midnight Tuesday they arrested Brandon Elliot without incident. He was charged Wednesday with two counts of felony assault as a hate crime and one count of first-degree attempted assault as a hate crime.
Elliot, who is black, was expected to be arraigned by video Wednesday.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr said prosecutors will seek to have Elliot jailed without bail pending trial. He faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted, Vance said.
Video of the attack at 11:40 am Monday on the Filipino woman in front of an apartment building on West 43rd Street drew widespread outrage from the public, the mayor and the governor after footage of the assault was released.
Asian Americans said the incident was another case in a growing number of anti-Asian hate and discrimination incidents during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Police responded quickly to the attack. Within hours they had posted signs in the area with an image of the assailant and circulated a video on social media, offering "Up to $2,500 reward for Information Regarding Assault". Anonymous tips, police said, led them to Elliott at the shelter.
Elliot was convicted of murder for stabbing his mother to death in the Bronx in 2002, when he was 19, and sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. He was released on supervised, lifetime parole 16 months ago.
The woman was walking to church past the apartment building when she was assaulted by the suspect who told her, "You don't belong here,” according to police.
The video from inside the apartment building showed the man kicking her in the stomach, knocking her to the ground, and then stomping on her head three times when she tried to get up.
A law enforcement official identified the victim as Vilma Kari. Kari's daughter told The New York Times that she emigrated from the Philippines several decades ago. Kari suffered serious injuries, including a fractured pelvis, authorities said. She was discharged from a hospital on Tuesday, a hospital spokesperson said.
As the assault continued, the video shows that at least three people in the lobby of the apartment building stood by and watched. The video ends with a doorman at the apartment building closing the door after seeing the woman on the sidewalk, without intervening. In the video, staff inside the building don't immediately appear to intervene.
The organization that manages the building said in a statement Tuesday that it was suspending staff members who witnessed the attack "pending an investigation by their union”.
The building workers' union issued a statement saying the staffer "called for help immediately". The union said Wednesday the workers told a union representative that they waited until the attacker left because he had a knife and then they flagged down a police car. The union urged the public to "avoid a rush to judgment while the facts are determined”.