San Francisco police are increasing the number of patrols after recent attacks on Asian Americans

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On Wednesday, a man and a woman, both of Asian descent, were attacked in San Francisco in separate attacks by the same suspected suspect, police said.

Separately, three men were arrested for alleged involvement in an attack on and robbery of an Asian-American man in a San Francisco laundromat last month.

Police patrols are being staged in coordination with local Asian American and Pacific Islander community organizations, the department said Wednesday.

Violence against Asian Americans has increased nationwide, coinciding with the Covid-19 pandemic. Several unprovoked attacks on elderly Asian Americans in the Bay Area led, in part, to the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office establishing a special response unit targeting crimes against Asians, especially elderly Asians.

Vicha Ratanapakdee, an 84-year-old from Thailand, died after being abruptly attacked on a morning walk on Jan. 28, according to San Francisco prosecutor Chesa Boudin. A 19-year-old man has been arrested on charges of murder and elder abuse in the case, he said.
In Oakland’s Chinatown neighborhood, police said a man forcibly pushed three unsuspecting people on Jan. 31, injuring a 91-year-old man, a 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman. A 28-year-old man has been charged with three charges of sexual assault, according to prosecuting documents.
Elsewhere in California, in response to the increase in attacks against people of Asian descent, Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva and LA County Sheriff’s Department meeting with groups in Asian-American communities this week to spread awareness and encourage citizens to report threats or suspicious activity.
Mayor of San Francisco London Breed, regarding patrols announced Wednesday, said“No one should live in fear that their race or ethnicity might victimize them.”

Two people attacked in San Francisco within minutes

On Wednesday morning in San Francisco, an Asian man and woman were assaulted by the same suspect in separate attacks, police said.

“Investigators are working to determine whether bias was a motivating factor in the incident,” San Francisco police officer Adam Lobsinger said in a statement.

Asian Americans reported being targeted at least 500 times in the past two months
The aftermath of the collision was captured on video by KPIX, an affiliate of CNN. The footage shows a crowd, including police officers and ambulance workers, gathered around an Asian woman holding an ice pack to the side of her head and face as she screams. A man can be seen handcuffed on a stretcher while being treated by a paramedic.

“He hit people,” the woman in the video hears saying in Cantonese. “He’s bullying old people,” she said, “so I slapped.”

The woman says to the man, “You bastard,” then says to the police, “He bullied me, he bullied me, asshole.”

Both the suspect, a 39-year-old man, and the 75-year-old woman were taken to hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, Lobsinger said, while the suspect was being treated for “an unrelated prior medical condition.”

According to Lobsinger, agents had been called after an earlier attack on an 83-year-old man. A local guard chased the suspect on foot, Lobsinger said, and while he was on the run, police said he assaulted the woman.

The injured woman told KPIX that she had been leaning against a utility pole when the man hit her without provocation.

The victims and suspect have not been officially identified and the incident is still under investigation.

Arrests during an attack on a launderette, captured on video

Three young men were arrested Wednesday for allegedly robbing and assaulting an elderly Asian man in an attack caught on surveillance video in a San Francisco laundromat last month.

The February 23 attack took place near the Nob Hill and Chinatown neighborhoods. An Asian-American man had just taken a seat in the laundromat when three people raided, threw the man and violently robbed him, according to a surveillance video from CNN-affiliated KGO-TV.

The 67-year-old victim, who was not identified, suffered non-life-threatening injuries from the attack, police said.

Three suspects were arrested in an attack captured on surveillance video

The arrested men were identified by police as Calvin Berschell, Jason Orozco and Nolowde Beshears. All three are 19 years old and live in Antioch, California, a suburban community about 43 miles east of San Francisco.

Arrest warrants were issued early Wednesday morning in Antioch, and all three were taken into custody without incident, according to a release by the SFPD. While executing a search warrant, the police seized two weapons and evidence related to the robbery.

The court and bail dates have not yet been set. It is unclear whether any of the three men retained lawyers.

Police expect the men to be charged with burglary robbery, elder abuse and assault. According to spokeswoman Rachel Marshall, a case has not yet been submitted to the prosecutor’s office.

CNN’s Eric Levenson, Stephanie Becker, Dan Simon and Jadyn Sham contributed to this report.

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