A homeless man charged with a hate crime for allegedly punching an Asian woman in Manhattan’s Chinatown on Monday has 17 previous arrests, police said.
“The incident happened in front of 65 Bayard Street around 6:15 p.m., when authorities say the 55-year-old woman was punched in a random and unprovoked attack,” ABC 7 reported.
New York State Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou shared the surveillance video of the incident dated Monday and claimed she received it from a constituent.
The video showed the woman, wearing a pink shirt and white hat, walking down the sidewalk.
A man wearing an orange hoodie then approached and appeared to hit her in the face. When she stumbled backward and fell to the ground, several bystanders came over to help her.
WARNING – GRAPHIC VIDEO:
This was just sent to me from my constituent. This just happened in my district in Chinatown. He has been arrested and our precinct is investigating. pic.twitter.com/sxNfCbrlza
— Yuh-Line Niou (@yuhline) May 31, 2021
The woman was taken to a local hospital with an injury to her face.
The suspect, Alexander Wright, 48, was taken into custody and charged with assault as a hate crime, assault, and criminal possession of a controlled substance.
He was transported to Bellevue Hospital to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
According to police, Wright was arrested on May 10 regarding two incidents on the Upper East Side, the ABC article continued:
First, around 10 a.m., he allegedly threw an object through the front window of Judson Reality at 1065 Madison Avenue. Then, just before 10:30 a.m., he claimed a 36-year-old man and his family was following him before confronting the man at East 72nd and Madison Avenue and scratching his left eye. He was charged with criminal mischief in the first incident and assault in the second.
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Authorities say he was also wanted for a January 17 incident for allegedly throwing a hot cup of coffee at a traffic agent and her partner at West 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue in Midtown. He charged with that incident when he was arrested on May 10.
Altogether, Wright has 17 prior arrests that include other alleged assaults.
During an interview on Tuesday, New York City Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner Dermot Shea spoke of an incident when a 65-year-old woman was pushed down the stairs in one of the city’s subway stations on Friday.
“What’s the common denominator?” Shea questioned, adding, “People that are arrested multiple, multiple, multiple times and released.”
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