KEY POINTS

  • Asian woman was assaulted in COVID-19 hate crime
  • Ferguson, 33, spat in woman's face and pulled her hair
  • Ferguson was apprehended and charged
  • Woman was treated at the scene

An Asian woman was harrassed in a Manhattan street early on Monday in hate crime related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The woman, 34, was walking north on Madison Avenue near East 25th Street in Manhattan around 6:15 Monday when Lynn Ferguson, 33, a Bronx resident, approached her and spat in her face, blaming her for the coronavirus outbreak, The New York Post reported.

When the victim tried to walk away, Ferguson assaulted her and yanked her hair hard enough to pull some of it out.

A traffic agent saw the incident and apprehended Ferguson who was later arrested and charged with hate crime assault, aggravate assault as a hate crime, possession of a hypodermic instrument, and possession of marijuana.

The Asian woman was treated and released at the scene.

The US economy has been transformed virtually overnight by the coronavirus outbreak, as social distancing subsumes spending
The US economy has been transformed virtually overnight by the coronavirus outbreak, as social distancing subsumes spending AFP / Angela Weiss
Coronavirus