Suspect in attack on Filipina in New York City arrested, charged

The man who assaulted a 65-year-old Filipina near Times Square in Manhattan, New York City earlier this week has been arrested and charged with felony assault as a hate crime, city police said Tuesday.

"Thanks to assistance from the public and excellent investigative work by @NYPDHateCrimes Detectives, the individual wanted for Monday’s assault of a 65 year-old Asian female, at 360 West 43rd St, was arrested and charged with Felony Assault as a Hate Crime," New York Police Department said on Twitter but did not divulge the suspect's name.

In a New York Times report on Monday, the victim, Vilma Kari, who immigrated to US years ago, was walking down a sidewalk near Times Square when the suspect kicked her in the stomach. 

Kari fell to the ground and the assailant continued to kick her in the head as she tried to get up.

In an update, the New York Times identified the assailant as Brandon Elliot, 38.

According to the news site, "Mr. Elliot was released from prison in 2019 and was on lifetime parole after he was convicted of fatally stabbing his mother in 2002, the police said."

At one point, police said Elliot allegedly shouted at the victim, "You don’t belong here.”

The video also shows some men in the building the camera was in watching the attack, with one of them closing the building's glass door afterwards.

The building's owner, The Brodsky Organization, said that it was "extremely distraught" by the attack and said that the two employees in the video who stood by and did nothing have been suspended pending an investigation.

The Philippines' top diplomat, Foreign Secretary Teddy Boy Locsin Jr., said the brutality against the Filipino senior citizen will affect the country's foreign policy as hate crimes against Asians continue in Unites States. 

Last week, a 19-year-old Filipino-American in San Francisco, California was left blind and suffering from other serious injuries after suspects shot her in the face. She is also being treated for COVID-19.

Last month, a Filipino man was slashed across the face in the subway, also in New York City. — Consuelo Marquez/BM, GMA News