Brooklyn Deli Owner Beaten By Customer In Alleged Anti-Asian Attack, Incident Caught On Camera

A Brooklyn deli owner was savagely beaten up by a customer Saturday in an alleged anti-Asian attack. The man is now demanding the assailant be charged.

Ki Tae Lee, 67, told cops that he was attacked inside his store in Flatbrush after the latter refused to pay for the services, CBS New York reported. Lee told deputies that the customer walked inside the store asking not to pay for his food.

"Free everything. No pay, yeah," the customer told Lee, according to CBS New York. Shortly after, the suspect started to trash the front counter, and when Lee tried to stop him, he was physically assaulted.

The attack was caught on surveillance camera and is being investigated as a possible anti-Asian hate crime. "I was cleaning the deli section when this person just threw everything off my counter. I went to tell him to stop. He said something, then he punched me. He was saying as he was punching me also," Lee told ABC New York.

Lee went to the hospital with injuries in his head and above his left ear. He told ABC New York that he was hurled a barrage of punches as well as called names. "He was saying some sort of curse words and derogatory things, but I can't say exactly what they were," he told the outlet. Lee told CBS New York that the attacker hurled anti-Asian slurs at him in the past. Lee was back at work on Sunday.

The customers present at the store were shocked to see Lee being assaulted. The neighbors are hoping that the suspect will be tracked down and brought to justice. "To be honest, they don’t deserve that," neighbor Juan Fuentes told CBS New York. "I think we have to all stand together now and make sure they are okay and that our community is okay," Meade said. "It’s tragic. I mean, this is a great family, hard working, here every single day, working 365 days a year. It’s heartbreaking to see it. I just wanted to come out and support them."

Lee told the outlet that the incident was followed by two men smashing the front door of his business and screaming: "Go back to your country!"

Investigators worked through Sunday morning to piece together evidence regarding the assault, but no arrests were reported.