Coronavirus News: Anti-Asian bias crimes increasing in NYC amid COVID-19 pandemic
BRONX, New York (WABC) -- There is another growing group of victims amid the coronavirus pandemic: Asian Americans who are being attacked and accused of causing the virus.
Sunday night in Dyker Heights, police say a 51-year-old resident was simply taking out her garbage when a man doused her with some kind of chemical which burned her face, neck, shoulders and back.
The Asian victim was rushed to the hospital while the man took off.
In late March in the Bronx, a 31-year-old female passenger was assaulted while riding an MTA Bx13 bus. It was in the middle of the afternoon.
Authorities say a group of girls hurled anti-Asian slurs at the victim, then smashed her on the head with an umbrella. The victim was given stitches.
Three 15-year-old girls were arrested nearby, but detectives are still looking for a fourth girl. Officials believe she is the one who actually turned the umbrella into a weapon
Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou fears there are many more cases which are never reported. She says her friend, a nurse, was verbally attacked in the hospital recently by a coronavirus patient she was trying to help.
Niou says the patient blamed her friend for the virus.
As for the two recently reported crimes, police say the teenagers on the bus have been charged with a hate crime.
The hate crimes task force is also investigating the chemical attack in Brooklyn.
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